(NEW YORK) — The skin care ingredient retinol has been receiving a lot of attention lately, especially on social media apps like TikTok.
But what does retinol actually do and should you be using it?
According to the Journal of America Academy of Dermatology: “retinoids, chemicals that have vitamin A activity, have become important therapeutic agents for a variety of cutaneous disorders, including acne.”
Below, dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe answers five questions about retinol.
1. What is retinol?
“Retinol is an over-the-counter form of topical vitamin A. It is one of the most researched and effective skin care ingredients that you can use without getting a prescription.
In fact, retinol is considered by many dermatologists and experts in skin health to be the gold standard in terms of ingredients that deliver clinically evident results and lead to healthier skin.
Retinol can increase skin cell turnover, boost collagen production over time, regulate oil production, even out skin texture, and help brighten dark spots on the skin resulting in a more even skin tone. It can even help fight acne and brighten those dark marks left over after acne pimples go away (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation).”
2. Should you be using retinol?
“Anyone looking to smooth out wrinkles, smooth skin texture, minimize the appearance of pores, or brighten skin can use retinol.
I do not recommend that pregnant women, or women who are breastfeeding, use retinol.
I also advise my patients with eczema or rosacea flares to hold off on retinol until their skin is under better control. Then, they can reintroduce this ingredient, but slowly and carefully.”
3. How do you use retinol?
“I recommend what I call ‘skin care cycling,’ which means cycling on and off powerful but potentially irritating ingredients like retinol.
I usually recommend that my patients start using a pea-sized amount once every fourth night.
If their skin is tolerating it well after a few weeks (no stinging, burning, redness, flaking) then they can graduate to every third night.”
4. Is retinol a new ingredient?
“It’s definitely not new! It’s finally getting the attention it deserves, though.
People are more skin savvy than ever these days, and I believe that dermatologists like myself, taking a more active role on social media, is playing a large role in that evolution.
I’m personally blown away by the sophisticated questions I get about skin care ingredients on my TikTok and Instagram channels. My social media followers are incredibly informed, and demand science-backed, scientifically proven recommendations from me, which I love!”
5. What should you look for when purchasing retinol products?
“Studies, studies, studies. Reputable brands will take the time to put their final formulations to the test in clinical studies.
Just because an ingredient performs well in a test tube doesn’t mean it will translate into meaningful results on someone’s skin.
Furthermore, especially with retinol, it’s not just about that single ingredient or what percentage that ingredient is being used in the product. You must also look at studies done on the final formula. Results from the formula should be greater than the sum of its parts.
Retinol can be unstable, or irritating. However, when formulated by someone who really understands the ingredient and how it will ‘play’ with other ingredients in the cream, gel, or lotion, that’s when you can see beautiful results and minimize side effects.”
(WASHINGTON) — Facing an onslaught of political pressure tactics and plunging public approval, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sails into a new term set to decide some of the most divisive cases in decades on abortion, gun rights, the death penalty and religious freedom.
By the end of June 2022, the court’s conservative majority has the potential to roll back 50 years of abortion rights precedent; declare a right to carry a handgun outside the home; bolster the death penalty; and, allow some American parents to use taxpayer funds for religious schools.
“This is not a court that has the opportunity to inch forward and tip toe around issues,” said University of Chicago law professor and legal historian Farah Peterson. “We should all be watching these cases very closely because suddenly the court has new members interested in taking up issues of grave public concern.”
The justices are also expected to address challenges to the Biden administration’s nationwide vaccine mandate; continuation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, for young immigrants; partisan drawing of congressional districts with new census data; and, Harvard’s use of racial affirmative action.
The blockbuster docket will play out as public approval of the Supreme Court in Gallup polling hits its lowest point in more than two decades — 40% in September, down precipitously from a ten-year high of 58% just last year.
“Not since Bush v. Gore has the public perception of the court’s legitimacy seemed so seriously threatened,” said Irv Gornstein, executive director of Georgetown Law’s Supreme Court Institute.
On the heels of a term marked by moderation and unanimity, most court watchers are braced for a sharp pivot to more polarizing decisions, foreshadowed in part by the justices’ 5-4 vote this summer to allow Texas to ban nearly all abortions across the state on technical grounds.
Taken together with a presidential commission weighing an overhaul of the bench, and mounting pressure on the court’s oldest liberal member to retire, veteran legal analysts say it could be one of the most consequential years for the Supreme Court in a generation.
“We’re going to have a huge explosion whichever direction they rule,” said Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative legal advocacy group, of the abortion cases. “Even if they try to rule down the middle and come up with a middle ground, you’re going to have outrage from the left or serious concerns from the right.”
Several justices have tacitly acknowledged in recent high-profile speeches and interviews that stubborn public perception of them as a politically-motivated group — combined with the hot-button decisions on the horizon — may significantly undermine the court’s credibility.
The court announced last month that it would continue live-streaming oral arguments to the public at least through the end of the year, continuing an act of transparency prompted by the pandemic but even as the justices return to in-person sessions on Oct. 4.
“We don’t trade votes, and members of the court have different judicial philosophies,” Justice Stephen Breyer said in an interview on “Good Morning America” this month. “The great divisions are probably much more along those lines than what we would think of as political lines.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett used a joint appearance with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell at the University of Kentucky to reject the notion that the justices are simply politicians in robes.
“To say the court’s reasoning is flawed is different from saying the court is acting in a partisan manner,” Barrett told students. “I think we need to evaluate what the court is doing on its own terms.”
Justice Clarence Thomas used a speech at the University of Notre Dame to warn critics against “destroying our institutions because they don’t give us what we want, when we want it.”
To many observers, however, the court’s opinions remain impossible to view without a political lens.
“If right-side judicial philosophies always produce results favored by Republicans and left-side judicial philosophies always produce results favored by Democrats, there is little chance of persuading the public that there is a difference between the two,” said Gornstein.
Last year, the justices handed down unanimous or near-unanimous decisions in roughly 60% of cases, according to an ABC News analysis. On several hot-button social issues, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Barrett joined liberal Justices Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, to forge common ground.
“Barrett, for example, voted with Roberts and Kavanaugh over 90% of the time,” said FiveThirtyEight contributor Laura Bronner. “Based on what we know so far she seems like she’s going to be a core component of the conservative triad at the center of the court.”
That triad could be the key to just how quickly the court continues its shift to the right and whether it’s prepared to set into motion major societal changes on several controversial issues.
“The conditions for the right side running the table have never looked better,” said Gornstein. “But I don’t think sweeping right-side rulings in all politically salient cases is inevitable.”
The court’s coming term will be dominated by the issue of abortion rights, centered on a case out of Mississippi that asks the justices to directly reconsider the landmark precedent in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey.
“Roe v. Wade is on thin ice,” said Florida State University law professor and abortion law historian Mary Ziegler. “At the moment it really feels more as if it’s a question of when, not if; and how, not whether.”
As Americans snatch up guns at record pace and shooting deaths soar, the justices will also decide a major case out of New York on whether the Second Amendment creates a right to carry a handgun outside the home.
“It would mean that you could expect more people to be carrying handguns in places like New York City, Boston and Los Angeles” if the court affirms such a right, said Southern Methodist University law professor Eric Ruben. “One of the things that the justices, especially the ‘institutionalist justices,’ are going to be considering is ripple effects that could undermine a decade’s worth of precedent and the lower courts.”
The court will decide whether to reinstate the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhohkar Tsarnaev and whether a Texas man sentenced to death has a First Amendment right to his pastor praying aloud and laying hands on him in the execution chamber.
A pair of cases will also test the government’s power to keep national security secrets: A former alleged associate of Osama bin Laden detained for decades at Guantanamo Bay is demanding the CIA turn over information on alleged torture at black sites overseas; and, a group of Muslim men in California is seeking to sue the FBI for alleged unlawful surveillance.
Analysts say the conservative Supreme Court supermajority is at a crossroads, the cases ahead set to reveal how far and how fast they’ll move the court’s jurisprudence to the right.
(NEW YORK) — When Sarah Smith experienced three miscarriages in less than two years, she suffered through each of them while at work.
“I didn’t ever feel like there was a space to talk about it with anybody,” Smith, now a mom of three, told “Good Morning America.” “It’s not listed like in your benefits, like if you suffer pregnancy loss, you can take time off, so nobody’s even talking about it.”
During one miscarriage, Smith, of Washington, D.C., remembers sitting at her desk in an open office, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong.
“I went through the day having meetings and talking to people while in excruciating pain, just waiting for the day to be over,” she said. “And every time I got up to go to the bathroom, I was petrified that there would be blood.”
During another, Smith said she sat at work while awaiting a scheduled dilation and curettage (D&C), a medical procedure performed to clear the uterine lining after a miscarriage, because she did not know how to talk about it with her employer.
Smith said the experience of suffering three miscarriages at work led her to change careers. She now works for the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization focused on the health of moms and babies.
“You’re just in this place where you’re like, ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here,'” she said of her past experiences. “You just are kind of suffering in silence.”
When Hannah Crowder, of California, suffered her first miscarriage, she said she continued to work because she had no available time off.
“I remember going [to the doctor] at 9:30 in the morning, not hearing a heartbeat, knowing it was going to be a miscarriage and having to go back in to to teach my afternoon classes,” said Crowder, a teacher and now the mom of a 4-year-old daughter. “I ended up having to have a D&C, so that was a day of missed work and then had to go back to the work the next day.”
“I don’t think people who haven’t experienced loss understand how invasive it really is if you end up having to have a D&C,” she said. “I had to wake up the next day like, ‘OK, I have 12 fourth-graders I have to go teach about American history today,’ and just turn that switch back on in my brain.”
As many as 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Stillbirth, the loss of a baby after 20 weeks of pregnancy, happens in around 24,000 births each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Both forms of loss are emotionally devastating and physically painful for those who endure them, yet there is relatively little support around pregnancy loss in society today, and especially in the workplace.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) recalled going through 10 years of failed cycles of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and a miscarriage while continuing nonstop at work.
“I would find out that morning that I wasn’t pregnant or in the case of a miscarriage that I had, and I had to go right back on the campaign trail,” she told “GMA.” “I was still working my job and in the Senate and I was campaigning at the same time, so it just became so overwhelming and so emotional.”
“I thought, ‘This is crazy that women have to go through this and try to deal with all of this,'” added Duckworth, who in 2018 became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office, when she delivered her second daughter.
Duckworth is now the co-author of the Support Through Loss Act, a bill she introduced in the Senate in July that would require U.S. employers to provide at last three days of paid leave to workers to address their own health needs or the health needs of a partner following a pregnancy loss, as well as an unsuccessful assisted reproductive technology procedure, a failed adoption or surrogacy arrangement or a medical diagnosis or event that impacts pregnancy or fertility.
The bill, introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), also proposes a $45 million annual investment in pregnancy-loss research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a federal public information campaign to share information on both how common pregnancy loss is, and how people can be supported.
“I remember being in my doctor’s office after he said my pregnancy had failed. I was devastated and at the same time my doctor was saying, ‘It’s fine. It’s perfectly normal,'” recalled Duckworth. “I didn’t know that so many pregnancies could fail. Having that information I think would really help all our families who are going through the process of trying to get pregnant.”
Duckworth and Pressley’s legislation calls for employers to provide “at least” three days of paid leave, and advocates say it’s a step in the right direction towards employers recognizing the long recovery for a pregnancy loss.
“As a federal mandate, it’s at least a good start because in too many situations some workers have no accommodations,” said Stacey D. Stewart, CEO of March of Dimes, which has endorsed Pressley and Duckworth’s legislation. “We have to understand that when we don’t provide these accommodations, there’s a real cost in productivity.”
“The idea that women go through a miscarriage or stillbirth and just bounce back immediately and go back to work is just simply unrealistic,” said Stewart.
The emotional, physical pain of pregnancy loss
Many of the causes of miscarriage and stillbirth are still not known or understood.
People who have gone through either form of pregnancy loss though know the toll it takes on the body, in addition to the emotional trauma.
In the case of a stillbirth, a person goes through childbirth, delivering the baby.
“I still delivered a four-pound baby,” said Elizabeth O’Donnell, a former teacher who said she was denied paid leave after her daughter, Aaliyah Denise, was born stillborn in December, after a 48-hour labor. “I wanted to be recognized as having a baby, which I still did, and have the time to heal my body back.”
“But these things are just not spoken about,” she said.
With miscarriage, people may experience bleeding, cramping, diarrhea and nausea while the pregnancy tissue is expelled. Some people may need a surgical treatment like a D&C, which is done in an operating room under anesthesia to remove pregnancy tissue, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
In many cases, it takes as long as four to six weeks for a person’s body to recover from a miscarriage.
“It can be an extremely painful experience for a family and it not only takes time for a pregnant person’s body to recover from a miscarriage or stillbirth, it can take even longer sometimes to recover emotionally,” said Stewart. “It’s often painful for families to even share with others what they’ve been going through.”
For people who are not comfortable sharing with their employer that they are trying to get pregnant, a fearful topic of conversation that can keep people silent in the workplace, Duckworth noted the Support Through Loss Act would provide them a layer of protection on the federal level.
“It’s important that it’s federal [in] that it does offer that protection much earlier in the process,” she said. “This is just sort of bringing the humanity back into our leave policies and more protections for families that are trying to get pregnant.”
Introduced four months ago, the legislation is still far from becoming law. If it were to be enacted, it would leap frog the U.S. from among the worst countries in the world on paid family leave to a pioneering role.
Earlier this year, New Zealand passed legislation that is believed to be among the first of its kind globally and would also require three days of paid leave after pregnancy loss for both the mother and her partner or spouse.
While a federal paid family leave policy is currently being debated in Congress, under current U.S. policy, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees who qualify can take time off to care for a newborn or loved one or recover from illness without fear of losing their job, but in most cases the leave is unpaid.
Only about one-fifth of employees in the private sector have access to paid family and medical leave, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
And data shows that access to paid leave is lower for Black workers than their white counterparts, while the risk of miscarriage is 43% higher for Black women, according to a study published this year in The Lancet, a medical journal.
According to Pressley, the Support Through Loss Act would apply to both federal and private employers and would supplement current paid leave policy.
“These three days would be a separate layer of leave protections than those set in paid family and medical leave,” she said. “We have to ensure within those paid leave policies … that we’re not leaving behind families who have experienced pregnancy loss.”
Pressley, one of the founding members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, said her goal with the Support Through Loss Act is to not only ensure people have time to recover, but also have support and information.
“I was unaware of the fact that there are doulas who can support you through pregnancy loss, and I’d be willing to bet that there are many healthcare professionals that might not be aware of that resource,” she said. “So we have to close that gap, make sure the information is more easily accessible, again, to better support those when they’re already in the midst of what is a traumatic and very isolating experience, and make sure that those supports are culturally responsive and holistic.”
The potential for not only paid time off but also recognition from the government and employers that pregnancy loss is both common and serious cannot come soon enough for people like Abby Mercado, who suffered a miscarriage three years ago while working in a nearly all-male office.
“I went to work because why wouldn’t I? Experiencing a pregnancy loss is just not something we talk about,” said Mercado, who went on to co-found Rescripted, an online infertility support community. “But my miscarriage was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through in my life. From a grief perspective, I still grieve it, and from a physical perspective, it hurt.”
“With an effort like [the Support Through Loss Act], it elevates the conversation and one by one the dominoes start to fall and women are finally able to really advocate for themselves and have the government backing them up as they’re advocating for themselves,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — In order for the bipartisan infrastructure bill and larger social spending package to pass, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Sunday the $3.5 trillion budget resolution price tag will likely be lowered.
“Three and a half trillion should be a minimum, but I accept that there’s gonna have to be a give and take,” Sanders told ABC “This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
House progressives have warned leadership they will not vote on President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill until the larger human infrastructure bill is also ready for a vote. The budget resolution calls for investments in climate change policy, child care and other social programs, and is wider in scope than the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which includes measures to improve the nation’s physical infrastructure.
“Both these bills are going forward in tandem,” Sanders said, reiterating the progressive call to hold out on passing infrastructure until the social spending bill is also passed.
Moderate Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have said they will not support the bill’s $3.5 trillion price tag. Due to the slim Democratic majority in the Senate, neither bill will pass unless they have all the votes of the Democrats.
Sinema released a statement Saturday accusing progressives of “an ineffective stunt” and slammed House Democratic leadership for failing to pass the bipartisan infrastructure deal.
“Denying Americans millions of good-paying jobs, safer roads, cleaner water, more reliable electricity and better broadband only hurts everyday families,” Sinema wrote.
Asked by Karl to respond to her statement, Sanders said he thinks Sinema is “wrong” and said both bills must go forward together, adding that he voted for the infrastructure bill.
“We’re not just taking on or dealing with Sen. Manchin and Sen. Sinema, we’re taking on the entire ruling class of the country,” Sanders responded. “Right now the drug companies, the health insurance companies, the fossil fuel industry are spending hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars to prevent us from doing what the American people want.”
“This really is a test on whether democracy can work,” Sanders said. “I hope very much and I expect that the Democratic caucus and the president — I know he will — stand firm.”
Biden spent last week negotiating with members and visited Capitol Hill on Friday to meet with House Democrats. According to sources in the room for the meeting, the president suggested lowering the price tag for his social policy bill to a number ranging from $1.9 to $2.2 trillion to reach a compromise.
Sanders said he’s not sure it is “accurate” to say Biden would settle on a reconciliation package around $2 trillion.
“The president also said that a smaller investment could create historic achievements, but [for] you, $2 trillion is not enough?” Karl pressed.
“What the president is saying is that what we are trying to do is for the working families of this country, for the children, for the elderly, we’re trying to pass the most consequential piece of legislation since the Great Depression, and he’s right,” Sanders responded.
Sanders also said “no” when asked by Karl if a $2 trillion price tag for the larger bill would be enough.
Manchin has said he will not vote to go over $2 trillion on the reconciliation bill. Asked how they can proceed without his vote, Sanders said the bill is paid for by increasing taxes on “the wealthiest people not paying federal taxes.”
“If Manchin wants to pay for it, I’m there, let’s do it, and by the way, you could pay for it at $3.5 trillion, you can pay for it at $6 trillion,” Sanders said. “We have massive income and wealth inequality in this country.”
Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has called the $3.5 trillion price tag too high. Pressed on whether the Democratic infighting will not only hurt Democrats in the midterms, but also hurt McAuliffe in his November race, Sanders said he “wishes Terry McAuliffe the best of luck” and emphasized the popularity of the reconciliation bill.
“What we are fighting for is precisely what the American people want,” Sanders said.
Sanders emphasized his confidence in passing both bills.
“At the end of the day, I am absolutely convinced we’re going to have a strong infrastructure bill, and we’re going to have a great consequential reconciliation bill which addresses the needs of the American people,” Sanders said.
(HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.) — A major oil spill off the coast of Southern California has forced Huntington Beach and activities scheduled to take place in the region to shut down.
A leak from an offshore oil production facility leaked 3,000 barrels of oil, which is about 126,000 gallons, on Saturday, Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said. The leak is expected to have occurred about 4.5 miles offshore, officials said.
The U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the spill around 9 a.m. Saturday, Carr said. By early Sunday morning, the oil had reached the shore. It had entered the Talbert Marshlands and the Santa Ana River Trail, fanning out over an area of about 5.8 nautical miles, the city of Huntington Beach announced in a press release Sunday morning.
The size of the spill “demanded prompt and aggressive action,” officials said, but the pipeline has been capped and is no longer leaking into the ocean.
Skimming equipment and booms have been deployed to prevent the oil from flowing into the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve and Huntington Beach Wetlands, according to the city.
On Sunday night, Laguna Beach closed all its beaches, asking that “all individuals remain clear of the beach and pay close attention to any beach closure or warning signs,” according to a statement released by the city.
“Some bad news for my Laguna Beach constituents (and everyone else). I just learned projections have the #HuntingtonBeachOilSpill reaching Crystal Cove around 10pm tonight. We need more resources deployed ASAP. And then we need to end all offshore oil drilling off the CA coast,” California Sen. Dave Min tweeted.
The Coast Guard has recovered 3,150 gallons of oil from the water as of Sunday night, and 5,360 feet of boom have been deployed, they said in a statement.
The shoreside response was conducted by 105 government agency personnel. Fourteen boats conducted oil recovery operations while three Coast Guard boats enforced a safety zone off 1,000 yards around the oil spill boats. Also, four aircrafts were dispatched for overflight assessments.
It is not yet clear what caused the spill.
The final day of the Pacific Airshow was canceled in order to facilitate cleanup operations, city officials announced Sunday morning. In addition, residents were advised not to swim, surf or exercise near the beach due to the potential health hazards, such as toxic fumes.
The oil spill is already affecting wildlife, with dead birds and fish already washing up on the beaches, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley tweeted.
Newport Beach Mayor Brad Avery reported to Foley that he saw dolphins swimming through the slick oil plumes as he headed back to shore from Catalina, Foley tweeted.
Foley told ABC News she believes the spill is “irreversible.”
“You can’t get wildlife back that are killed in this process, and some of the habitat the plant species, they’re going to be impacted for years to come,” she said.
She added that the damage to the environment isn’t the only thing she fears as she has received reports of surfers getting sick.
“It feels like you have a thick coating in your mouth, if you’re out there too long. It’s definitely the vapors in the air, and they’re impacting the environment,” she said.
Marine animals will be taken to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, where they will be triaged and later sent to Sea World San Diego for rehabilitation, animal rescuers told ABC News.
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center is currently in a “holding pattern” as it awaits the arrival of oiled animals in the next hours, days and weeks, Krysta Higuchi, communications representative for the organization, told ABC News.
The center is “preparing for the worst, hoping for the best,” Higuchi said.
Ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana urged policymakers to begin a widespread shift to clean energy and to end offshore drilling to prevent future spills.
“This is just the latest tragedy of the oil industry,” Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer for, told ABC News. “The reality of our reliance on oil and gas is on full display here.”
Saturday’s spill is just the latest in American waters this past month. After Hurricane Ida tore through the Gulf Coast in early September, it left a trail of oil in its wake, with nearly 350 oil spills reported to the Coast Guard in the days after the storm made landfall.
An analysis by the organization also found that ending new leasing for offshore oil and gas in the U.S. could prevent over 19 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions as well as more than $720 billion in damages to people, property and the environment in the country.
The risk of oil spills may rise a climate change creates stronger offshore disturbances, experts told ABC News.
The California Department of Wildlife has set up a hotline to report wildlife impacted by the oil. Individuals are advised not to handle the wildlife but to report incidents to 877-823-6926.
(ORLANDO) — A body believed to be 19-year-old college student Miya Marcano, who has been missing for just over a week, was discovered Saturday morning, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Authorities searched around the Tymber Skan apartments in Orange County, Florida, on Saturday and discovered a body in a wooded area nearby “that we believe to be that of Miya Marcano,” Sheriff John Mina said.
Marcano, a student at Valencia College, was last seen at the Arden Villas apartments complex in Orlando where she lived on Sept. 24.
“Although we are very certain of the identity, the positive identification will have to come from the medical examiner’s office. At this time we cannot confirm a cause of death,” Mina said.
Mina said Marcano’s family has been notified about the discovery of the body, which was found around 10:45 a.m. Saturday. He said a purse with Marcano’s identification was found near the body as well.
Police were led to the area based on cellphone records of “prime suspect” Armando Caballero, 27, a maintenance worker at Arden Villas who was found dead Monday from an apparent suicide, authorities said.
The records showed Caballero was near Tymber Skan apartments the day Marcano went missing around 8 or 9 p.m. Mina said that Caballero had lived at the Tymber Skan apartments at one time.
Authorities said Caballero had expressed a romantic interest in Marcano but she rebuffed his advances. Caballero possessed a key fob to access apartments and his was used at Marcano’s unit just before her disappearance, authorities said.
“We believe Armando Caballero is solely responsible for this crime,” Sheriff Mina said Saturday.
“This is not the update I wanted to give everyone,” Mina added. “Our hearts our broken. Everyone wanted this outcome to be different.”
(WASHINGTON) — Women’s rights advocates are marching again in Washington, D.C., and other cities across the U.S. Saturday, with a focus on reproductive rights.
The fifth annual Women’s March is being held on a date specifically chosen for its proximity to the start of the U.S. Supreme Court’s new term on Monday.
Women’s March organizers said the restrictive abortion law that went into effect in Texas in September motivated them to act now.
The law, which bans nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, went into effect after the Supreme Court rejected a request by Texas abortion providers to block the law as legal challenges continued.
The Department of Justice and the state of Texas faced off in court over the law on Friday, but the judge did not give any specific timeline on when he would make his decision on the DOJ’s request for an emergency injunction.
“When the Supreme Court rejected an emergency request to block Texas’s abortion ban, they effectively took the next step towards overturning Roe v. Wade. Simply put: We are witnessing the most dire threat to abortion access in our lifetime,” reads a statement on the Women’s March website.
The Supreme Court also is scheduled to hear in December oral arguments in a case that could be the most consequential abortion rights case in decades. The state of Mississippi is asking the justices to overturn longstanding legal precedent that restrictions on abortion access before a fetus is viable outside the womb — around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy — are categorically unconstitutional. Mississippi wants to ban abortions after 15 weeks, or even earlier.
Reproductive rights advocates call the case, which centers around Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s last remaining abortion clinic, an existential threat to American abortion rights not seen in nearly 50 years.
This year’s protest follows in the footsteps of Women’s March protests that have taken place every year since 2017, when the first march drew more than a million people to various locations across the U.S. the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The protests have dwindled in size since the first march, but have continued across the country.
As women take to the streets this year to march, in addition to battles over reproductive rights, women have also experienced disproportionate job loss during the coronavirus pandemic and faced greater caregiving burdens than male counterparts, data shows.
Women’s March organizers said that in addition to the Washington, D.C., march, smaller marches are planned from Bangor, Maine, all the way to Seattle.
The Washington march began at Freedom Plaza and is continuing along Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Supreme Court building.
Busy Phillips, who has spoken publicly about having an abortion at age 15, is among the speakers confirmed for the Washington march.
(HOUSTON) — Police identified the suspected gunman who stormed YES Prep Southwest Secondary school in Houston, Texas, on Friday and wounded the principal as 25-year old Dexter Harold Kelsey.
Kelsey has been charged with aggravated assault against a public servant and deadly conduct in the 263rd State District Court, Houston Police announced Saturday.
Houston police said a call about reports of an active shooting came in at 11:45 a.m. at 4400 Anderson Road at Hiram Clarke.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said in a press conference Friday that officers arrived to the scene “within minutes” following the call and once inside the school came upon the suspect “armed with a rifle” and he “surrendered without incident.”
Finner said Friday the suspect was a former student of the school. Police said Kelsey confessed to his role in the shooting and was subsequently charged.
“When he came to the building, the front door, the glass door, it was locked. He gained entry by shooting on the glass door and immediately fired upon one of the employees of the school,” Finner said.
The employee sustained a gunshot wound to the back. Police named the victim Saturday as school principal Eric Espinosa, 36, who was treated at a hospital and later released.
Police said Espinosa was alerted about the shooting and attempted to warn teachers and students.
“During the gunfire, one of the bullets struck the principal in his lower back. As the principal continued to help students and teachers flee the school, responding police officers arrived, located the suspect and arrested him without further incident,” Houston police said.
YES Prep Southwest Secondary said in a statement Friday that “no students have been injured.” The school serves grades 6 through 12.
Audio from a dispatch call reveals an official said: “I’m gonna need units at 4411 Anderson Rd, just got a message that there’s a man with a gun in the school.”
The Houston Fire Department initially told ABC News one person was transported to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center Emergency Room.
First responders were on the scene to actively clear the building, Houston Fire said after reports of the shooting.
A seventh grader who was evacuated from the school told ABC Houston station KTRK, “When I was coming out, I saw blood and glass shattering everywhere.”
“My teachers told me to stay back in the classroom where nobody can see you and officers came, saying, ‘Put your hands up. Go outside,’” the student said.
A staging area for parents was set up at West Fuqua and Hiram Clarke and students were sent to that location.
The students had gone through active shooter training just two days earlier. Finner commended students for remaining calm during the evacuation.
Finner said there are no other potential suspects and no further threat to the students.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 696,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 65% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 01, 9:10 pm
US death toll surpasses 700,000
The U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpassed 700,000 Friday night, though the latest surge continues to subside.
About 1,500 new deaths are reported each day on average in the U.S. The country’s daily case average has dropped to just under 106,000 cases a day, down by about 33% in the last month, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
However, that number is still significantly higher than it was three months ago.
There have been over 43 million coronavirus cases in the U.S., which means 1 in approximately every 7 Americans has tested positive, and 1 in every 469 Americans has lost their life to the virus.
Some states — like Alaska and West Virginia — are experiencing record-breaking surges, while other states — including Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Texas — have an intensive care unit capacity of about 10% or less.
In other states — Maine, Minnesota and New Hampshire — infection rates continue to rise.
About 97% of counties across the country are reporting “high” or “substantial” community transmission, as the country nears the grim milestone of 700,000 deaths.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 01, 7:38 pm
American Airlines to require employee vaccinations
American Airlines told employees Friday that all U.S.-based employees and certain international crew members must be vaccinated in light of the federal vaccine mandate.
“While we are still working through the details of the federal requirements, it is clear that team members who choose to remain unvaccinated will not be able to work at American Airlines,” CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom wrote in a letter obtained by ABC News.
Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons “can request an accommodation,” they continued.
No deadline was set.
Reuters reported Friday that the White House has pressed U.S. airline CEOs to mandate vaccines for staff by early December.
Delta Air Lines said in a statement Friday that 84% of its employees were vaccinated and the airline continues “to evaluate the administration’s plan.”
Southwest Airlines said it “continues to strongly encourage employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
United Airlines has already put in place a vaccine mandate; 99.5% of its U.S.-based employees are vaccinated.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji
Oct 01, 6:48 pm
‘Aladdin’ performances through Oct. 10 now canceled
“Aladdin” is canceling additional Broadway performances after more COVID-19 cases were detected among the company, the show announced Friday.
The musical returned Tuesday for the first time since Broadway closed for the pandemic, though Wednesday night’s performance was canceled after breakthrough COVID-19 cases among the company were confirmed.
“Aladdin” was back Thursday night, though now all performances through Oct. 10 will be canceled after more breakthrough cases were detected Friday, the show said.
“We apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience this causes ticket holders, but we trust that audiences will agree that safety must be at the forefront of our return to Broadway,” the show said in a statement on its website.
Members undergo PCR tests six times a week and are required to be vaccinated.
Oct 01, 5:20 pm
Deadline for NYC school employees to get vaccinated passes
The deadline for New York City public school employees has passed: At least 90% of public school employees are vaccinated, including 93% of teachers and 98% of principals, according to the Department of Education.
About 500 employees have been granted an exemption, representing .03% of the workforce.
Employees who did not provide proof of vaccination by 5 p.m. on Friday will be moved to Leave Without Pay status. Employees who get vaccinated this weekend and provide proof of vaccination on Monday may report to work as usual.
The DOE said 9,000 vaccinated substitute teachers are on standby.
Oct 01, 5:04 pm
US death toll set to surpass 700,000
The U.S. death toll is set to surpass 700,000, though the latest surge continues to subside.
About 1,500 new deaths are reported each day on average in the U.S. The country’s daily case average has dropped to just under 106,000 cases a day, down by about 33% in the last month, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
However, that number is still significantly higher than it was three months ago.
There have been almost 43.4 million coronavirus cases in the U.S., which means 1 in approximately every 7 Americans has tested positive, and 1 in every 469 Americans has lost their life to the virus.
Some states — like Alaska and West Virginia — are experiencing record-breaking surges, while other states — including Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Texas — have an intensive care unit capacity of about 10% or less.
In other states — Maine, Minnesota and New Hampshire — infection rates continue to rise.
About 97% of counties across the country are reporting “high” or “substantial” community transmission, as the country nears the grim milestone of 700,000 deaths.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 01, 3:02 pm
White House COVID-19 team on rapid testing, vaccine updates
The White House COVID-19 team told ABC News that they are aiming to double the number of rapid tests available at market within the next two months.
“You’re right that the at-home rapid test is under a lot of demand,” said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients. “The manufacturing is scaling up significantly, doubling across the next couple of months, and we’re just going to keep at it to encourage those manufacturers to increase capacity and to drive down the cost of those tests.”
Zients added: “Overall, we’ll continue to pull every level we can to further expand the manufacturing and the production of these tests in order to make them more widely available, and to drive down the cost per test.” He did not offer further specifics.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also said that the shots for children ages 5 to 11 are “on the horizon.” Murthy deferred to the FDA and CDC’s “rigorous review process” and independent advisory panels to determine further absolutes.
The White House team urges Americans not to let their guard down even though the latest surge of COVID-19 may be subsiding. White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it is not an excuse for unvaccinated Americans to remain unvaccinated.
“I think that the people who are unvaccinated, when they see the curve starting to come down, that is not a reason to remain unvaccinated, because if you want to ensure that we get down to a very low level and that we don’t re-surge again,” Fauci said. “We still gotta get a very large proportion of those 70 million people who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not been vaccinated, we’ve got to get them vaccinated.”
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Oct 01, 2:11 pm
California to require COVID-19 vaccine for all students
California will be the first state to require the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible students, faculty and staff in public and private schools. Gov. Gavin Newsom says that the COVID-19 vaccine will be one of 11 vaccines required to attend schools in California.
The vaccine will be required at the start of the upcoming school term following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the vaccines. Terms begin in January and July.
The government has only fully approved the COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 and over.
School staff will be required to be vaccinated on the same timeline as grades 7-12, the earliest group to see full FDA approval.
There are exemptions for medical reasons and for personal and religious beliefs.
-ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman
Oct 01, 12:20 pm
Vaccine acceptance at high amid delta surge: Polls
Polls found that coronavirus vaccine acceptance is at a high — with surveys finding 80% to 82% of people say they have been vaccinated or are likely to get vaccinated. These are the highest percentages [since the vaccine rollout began] ().
The CDC reports that 77% of adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose.
Vaccinations have gone up since August, and a study by [health policy research organization Kaiser Family Foundation] () indicates that gaps by race and ethnicity are almost eliminated — 73% of Hispanics, 71% of white people and 70% of Black people are said to be vaccinated.
However, vaccine gaps persist across party lines — KFF found that 90% of Democrats say they’ve gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, compared with 68% of independents and 58% of Republicans.
However, unvaccinated people continue to express doubts concerning the vaccines’ effectiveness and resistance to vaccine mandates in the workplace.
In a poll by [the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index] (), 71% of unvaccinated Americans believe that the vaccine booster shots and breakthrough infections are signs that vaccines are not as effective as they are said to be.
Only about 29% of unvaccinated workers say they would get a shot if their employer mandates it, according to the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Oct 01, 8:35 am
Merck announces virus-fighting breakthrough in pill form
Merck Thursday morning announced the results of an ongoing Phase 3 study of an antiviral pill that may slash the risk of being hospitalized or dying of the virus by 50%.
The study’s results are so compelling that an independent monitoring board recommended, in consultation with the FDA, ending the trial early so the companies can swiftly seek authorization.
Sep 30, 4:33 pm
Daily hospital admissions down 32% in last month
Since the beginning of September, the U.S. has seen a drop of more than 27,000 patients in hospitals across the country, according to federal data. A little less than half of those patients come from Florida.
Daily hospital admissions are down by nearly 15% in the last week and by 32% in the last month, according to federal data.
The country’s daily case average has fallen to 107,000 — a 33% drop in the last month. However, about 97% of counties are still reporting “high” or “substantial” community transmission.
(CHICAGO) — Illinois State Police have opened a investigation into the death of a trooper found shot on a Chicago highway Friday.
Gerald Mason, 35, was found in his squad car suffering from a single gunshot wound at 1:42 p.m. on northbound local lanes of Interstate 94 at 43rd street, Illinois State Police announced.
Citizens on the highway, Chicago Police and ISP troopers arrived to the scene.
Mason was transported to the University of Chicago hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries. He succumbed to his injuries at 2:16 p.m.
“It is with profound heartache and unfathomable sadness that we inform you of the death of Trooper Gerald Mason. Trooper Mason was one of the many fearless Troopers assigned to ISP District Chicago. We are asking the public to respectfully give consideration to the family of Trooper Mason and the whole ISP family while we continue to grieve and work through this tragedy,” Director Brendan Kelly said in a statement.
Mason was an 11-year veteran of the ISP.
Mason was on duty at the time, ABC local Chicago station WLS reported.
”Many people called Mason ‘The Hulk’. He was a solid, strong man. He even ripped his trooper pants during a foot pursuit because of those big muscles,” Kelly said in a press conference Friday evening.
Kelly highlighted the challenging work troopers face day in and day out.
“The amazing men and women that we all ask to do so much, again and again and again, may seem like superheroes on many days, but they’re not immortal. They’re not indestructible. They are human beings with hearts, minds and souls as fragile as the next person. They have a breaking point,” Kelly said.
His mother Linda Mason was heartbroken to learn of his death.
“That’s my baby. My first born,” she said to WLS. “He always wanted to be a police officer because he always wanted to protect people. He wanted to make the world a better place.”
His body was escorted in a procession from the hospital to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office with Chicago police, ISP and Chicago firefighters paying their respects.
Police have not revealed any additional information about the circumstances of the shooting but said there is no safety threat to the public or police.
