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Ohio health care workers warn of ‘astronomical’ COVID-19 pediatric surge

September 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(DAYTON, Ohio) — Although coronavirus-related hospitalizations are beginning to trend down nationally among all age groups, the rate of pediatric infections remains at an “exceptionally high” level, according to experts.

Across the country, federal data shows that nearly 2,000 children are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. In recent weeks, as the viral surge in the South is finally showing signs of abatement, pediatric hospital admissions have fallen by more than 30%. However, on average, more than 250 children continue to be admitted to the hospital each day with the virus.

In Ohio, which currently has the country’s second highest total of pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations, the crisis among children remains at a critical level.

Front-line workers at Dayton Children’s Hospital told ABC News they have seen a “record number” of virus-positive patients, since the highly infectious delta variant hit the state over the summer.

“We’re seeing an increase in our census that’s been astronomical,” said charge nurse Will Andres. “[It’s] pretty hard to keep our heads above water, day in and day out.”

As of Wednesday, more than 210 children are hospitalized with COVID-19, across the state.

“We are seeing more and more positive results. We’re seeing more and more people coming in and requesting testing. It’s just overwhelming,” Amy Temple, a pediatric emergency room nurse, said.

Earlier this month, the CEOs of Ohio’s six children’s hospitals joined together with the Ohio Children’s Hospitals Association to raise the alarm about the significant increase in hospitalized kids with the coronavirus.

“This is a reality for us today. And it’s threatening the capacity of our pediatric safety net in ways we have never experienced before,” the group wrote in a letter.

Many front-line workers reported that children appear to be getting sicker than at previous points in the pandemic — particularly adolescents who have not been vaccinated.

“Some of these kids are getting very sick. They’re requiring extra assistance to make them able to breathe. We’re having to do a lot of extra intervention, whether it’s either putting in a breathing tube and putting on a ventilator or with just a mask to provide oxygenation and ventilation,” Hilary O’Neill, a respiratory therapist at Dayton Children’s Hospital, explained. “There are definitely a lot sicker than we had ever seen before.”

The influx of patients in need of care has left some front-line workers feeling overwhelmed, overworked and mentally drained.

“At this point, I’m emotionally exhausted. Kids keep getting sicker, and we are busy, and every day we come in and there just doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel anymore,” Temple said.

Michele Nadolsky, a clinical team leader in the emergency room, and a 28-year veteran of the hospital, added that she feels an “overwhelming sense of defeat,” particularly as a “large” number of nurses leave the business, resulting in staffing shortages.

Although severe disease among children remains “uncommon,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, the potential for long-term consequences among children who test positive for the virus is still concerning.

“One of our biggest concerns is what’s going to happen in six months to a year from now, after child has recovered from the acute illness of COVID-19, and what kind of symptoms or long-term effect is it going to have on them as they continue to grow and mature,” Nadolsky said.

Another worrying trend, one doctor said, is the notable number of children who are often forced to stay alone in the hospital because their parents are battling COVID-19.

“I think most of the time, the children who have COVID infections have another family member, often an adult, who is also sick with COVID,” Amit Vohra, a pediatric intensivist at the hospital, said. “Those parents are unable to visit the children at the hospital. Oftentimes, nobody’s here with them for some hours of every day. So those are the times that I think our nurses step in to provide that emotional level of support that the children need … These kids are often short of breath, they’re hurting in their chest. They’re breathless, they’re anxious, they’re concerned: Are they ‘going to die?'”

The most difficult aspect of this all, according to Karen Davis, a pediatric intensive care nurse, has been watching so many children suffer through the illness.

“I’m a mother and a grandmother, so I just feel for the kids that are struggling so hard … I take care of them, like I would want them to take care of my child,” said an emotional Davis. “One of the biggest fears parents have to take care of their children is that they may die, and they may not get out of the hospital alive.”

COVID-19 live updates: 37% of people may have at least one symptom months later

September 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 695,000 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:

Sep 30, 10:07 am
NY hospital system nearly 100% vaccinated after letting go ‘few hundred employees’

Northwell Health, New York state’s largest health care system, says its workforce of more than 77,000 is now “near 100%” vaccinated after letting go “a few hundred employees” who refused to get the mandated shot.

Northwell Health said, “we are pleased to report that most team members are opting to be vaccinated so as to avoid being terminated.”

Sep 30, 9:40 am
37% of people may have at least 1 symptom months after having COVID: Study

A new study finds 37% of COVID-19 patients had at least one symptom three to six months later. The most typical symptoms included breathlessness, fatigue, abdominal pain, depression and anxiety.

Researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed millions of medical records, comparing long-haul symptoms after COVID-19 to long-haul symptoms after the flu. A significant portion of people who had the flu also experienced symptoms three to six months later, but far more people who recovered from COVID-19 experienced at least one long-haul symptom.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has launched several large research studies to look into why long-haul symptoms happen to some people and how to treat them.

Sep 29, 8:46 pm
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says unvaccinated athletes ‘very irresponsible’

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spoke with ABC News Live Wednesday about the vaccination status among NBA players.

The league, which has not implemented a mandate among team members, said 90% of all players are vaccinated. However, some of the holdouts include stars like Bradley Beal and Andrew Wiggins.

Abdul-Jabbar told ABC News’ Phil Lipof that he believes the players refusing to get vaccinated are being “very irresponsible.”

“If you care for your family or the people that you work with, and have to spend a lot of time with, you will get vaccinated,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

He added that this should especially be true among Black athletes, noting that COVID-19 has affected Black Americans the most, so promoting vaccinations is important for the community.

“It’s like an extension of Black Lives Matter,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Most of the people who are dying are black people. Most of the people who are losing their jobs and being negatively affected in other ways economically are Black Americans. So the Black community, who has a great communication going on with their athletes, they need to get wise to this and Black athletes can do a lot to to change the template.”

Sep 29, 8:06 pm
Aladdin Broadway show canceled after several test positive for COVID

Producers for Aladdin on Broadway canceled Wednesday’s show after several people in the production tested positive for COVID-19.

Disney Theatrical Productions announced the cancellation just 30 minutes before the start of the show, saying “Through our rigorous testing protocols, breakthrough COVID-19 cases have been detected within the company of ‘Aladdin’ at the New Amsterdam Theater.”

The production resumed on Tuesday after shutting down for nearly a year and a half. The Broadway League issued a vaccine mandate for all of its casts and crews before productions resumed this month.

Disney Theatrical Productions is a part of the Walt Disney Company, the parent company of ABC News.

Sep 29, 6:25 pm
West Virginia is in the eye if the COVID storm, governor says

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice offered yet another urgent plea Wednesday for residents to get vaccinated, as the state continues to struggle through its COVID-19 latest surge.

“There’s absolutely every reason to believe we’re right in the eye of the storm. We’re right at the peak of the surge right now,” Justice said in a news conference. “We’re going to lose a bunch more people.”

Only 48.1% of West Virginians have had one dose of the vaccine as of Wednesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ICU capacity is currently at a record high, with nearly 300 patients receiving critical care, according to Justice.

“We can’t have all these people just die in vain and have this just continue to go and continue to go,” he said.

Justice explained that although he does not believe in mandates, all he can “possibly do with a good conscience,” is to continue to urge everyone in the community to get vaccinated.

Hundreds of hospital staffers fired or suspended for refusing COVID-19 vaccine mandate

September 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Hundreds of health care workers across the country are being fired or suspended in droves for not complying with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

President Joe Biden announced earlier this month a vaccine mandate for health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, impacting some 17 million health care workers in the nation.

States including New York, California, Rhode Island and Connecticut also set vaccine mandates for health care workers that take effect this week.

But there are brewing concerns over staff shortages at already-overburdened hospitals still grappling with COVID-19 cases. Some hospital networks said they’ve ramped up hiring ahead of vaccine deadlines to stabilize their workforces.

ABC News contributor John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, noted that while overall the number of health care workers being terminated or suspended isn’t huge, at the same time, “we can’t afford to lose anybody at this point.”

“By and large, vaccine mandates are working. Those in health care are taking these vaccine incredibly seriously to protect themselves and their patients.” Brownstein said. “We’re seeing a greater need of health care — there was a lot of deferred care for elective surgeries and behavioral health — juxtaposed with existing shortages of health care workers. Any impact is going to create even more pressure on health care systems.”

In the South and West

In North Carolina, the Novant Health hospital system, which has over 35,000 employees across 15 hospitals and over 800 clinics, fired around 175 of its workers for failing to get vaccinated, officials told ABC News.

Approximately 375 team members were noncompliant with the vaccine mandate last week and were given a five-day suspension period to get a COVID-19 shot.

Over the course of the week, nearly 200 additional team members became in compliance, Novant Health said Monday. The hospital system now has a vaccine compliance rate of over 99%, officials said.

Employees granted medical or religious exemptions must wear masks and undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

Novant Health CEO and president Carl Armato said in a statement that the system has been steadily adding to travel staff numbers “to meet the needs of our organization throughout the pandemic.”

“Without a vaccine mandate for team members, we faced the strong possibility of having a third of our staff unable to work due to contracting, or exposure to, COVID-19. This possibility only increases heading into a fall season with the more contagious and deadly delta variant,” he said.

In Texas, Houston Methodist Hospital, which has some 26,000 employees, saw 153 employees quit or fired over the vaccine requirement after the June 7 deadline to get the shots. Of those, 26 were nurses.

“We staffed up prior to the mandate so that we would be much better prepared when our June 7 deadline arrived, and then we had the fourth surge in Houston starting in July. We continue to hire positions as needed, so we’ve not had any major turnover or staffing concerns,” hospital spokesperson Lisa Merkl told ABC News.

In California, health workers have until Thursday to be fully inoculated.

At Cedars-Sinai, based in Los Angeles with almost 17,000 people in its workforce, about 75% of staffers are projected to comply by the deadline. About 1% applied for medical or religious exemptions.

California Hospital Association spokesperson Jan Emerson-Shea told ABC News that the mandate comes at a time “when many hospitals are facing serious staffing shortages.”

“It’s hard to predict exactly how the vaccine mandate will play out — every hospital is implementing its own processes and procedures,” Emerson-Shea said. “While some health care workers may qualify for exemptions for either medical or religious reasons, it is possible that some health care workers may choose to leave their employment rather than get vaccinated.”

On the East Coast

In Delaware, 150 employees left ChristianaCare, a major hospital system in the state, after they failed to meet the Sept. 21 deadline to get vaccinated, the hospital announced in a Monday statement.

Approximately 200 caregivers received religious or medical accommodations and will have to wear masks and be required to undergo regular COVID-19 testing to keep working.

“In late July, we made a commitment to put the safety of our caregivers and our patients first by requiring COVID-19 vaccination for everyone who works at ChristianaCare,” CEO Dr. Janice Nevin said in a statement. “As we anticipated, a small number of caregivers chose not to be vaccinated and have left the organization.”

The hospital network has also hired more than 200 caregivers over the past month to keep the workforce afloat.

In New York, hundreds of staffers have been suspended this week and risk losing their jobs as the statewide vaccine mandate for health workers reached its first dose deadline Monday.

Northwell, the state’s largest private hospital system with over 76,000 employees, fired about two dozen “unvaccinated leaders” at the management level or above for not getting vaccinated, officials said Tuesday.

“We are now beginning the process to exit the rest of our unvaccinated staff,” Northwell said in a statement.

In New York City, about 500 nurses for NYC Health + Hospitals are not at work and have been preemptively replaced. Unvaccinated workers have been placed on unpaid leave but can return once they get their shot. A hospital spokesperson told ABC News that today over 92% of the NYC Health + Hospitals’ workforce is in compliance with the state vaccine mandate as of Wednesday.

“We anticipated there would be some losses of staff. We knew that no matter what our efforts, some people would not get vaccinated, we planned appropriately,” hospital president Dr. Mitch Katz said Tuesday.

Erie County Medical Center Corporation based in Buffalo, New York, said about 276 employees, 7% of the workforce, was on administrative leave for failing to meet the requirement.

That total includes 5% of all ECMC hospital staff and 20% of staff at the Terrace View, a long-term care facility, hospital vice president of communications and external affairs Peter Cutler told ABC News. Those who have not gotten their shots are put on a 30-day period of unpaid leave, but if they get vaccinated they can return.

Similarly, Albany Medical Center suspended 204 employees of its over 11,000-member workforce for one week starting Tuesday for not complying with the vaccine, officials said in a press conference Tuesday.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday that the numbers of state health care workers getting the COVID-19 vaccine are promising with 92% of hospital staff, 92% of nursing home staff and 89% of adult care facility staff inoculated with at least one vaccine dose.

“This new information shows that holding firm on the vaccine mandate for health care workers is simply the right thing to do to protect our vulnerable family members and loved ones from COVID-19,” she said.

To grapple with any potential shortages in hospital and health care staff, Hochul signed an executive order Monday night which allows health care workers from other states and countries to practice in New York and waives re-registration fees.

‘High levels’ of toxic heavy metals found in baby food: Report

September 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Several popular baby food brands contain “high levels” of toxic heavy metals — and they are not doing enough to stop the practice, according to a new report released Wednesday by a U.S. House Oversight subcommittee.

Brands including Gerber, Plum Organics, Beech-Nut and Walmart are named in the report, which calls on baby food manufacturers to begin voluntarily testing their products for toxic heavy metals and to phase out products that contain large amounts of ingredients that test high in toxic heavy metals.

The report also calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hurry in releasing its standards for heavy metals in baby foods and to, in the meantime, require baby food makers to test their finished products for heavy metals.

“Today’s report reveals that companies not only under-report the high levels of toxic content in their baby food, but also knowingly keep toxic products on the market,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, said in a statement. “The facts speak for themselves, and the fact of the matter is that the baby food industry has consistently cut corners and put profit over the health of babies and children.”

The FDA announced in April its Closer to Zero plan, which has a goal of reducing exposure to toxic elements in foods eaten by kids and babies “to the lowest possible levels.”

In response to the call to action in the subcommittee’s report, the FDA told ABC News it plans to announce “soon” the date for a public meeting that will “address questions around the scope of the Closer to Zero plan.”

“We have continued our sampling to help inform our process to set levels, and we are working to strengthen our relationships with federal partners, industry and advocates to ensure that we make meaningful and lasting reductions in exposure to toxic elements from foods,” the FDA said in the statement.

The new report is a follow-up to a report released in February by the same subcommittee that found baby foods from several leading brands contained “significant” levels of toxic heavy metals, including lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.

Congressional investigators requested test results and internal company documents from seven of the largest baby food manufacturers in the U.S. in November 2019, following reports alleging baby foods contain high levels of toxic heavy metals.

In some cases, some of the baby food products analyzed carried as much as 91 times the allowable arsenic level, 177 times the lead level, 69 times the cadmium level and up to five times the mercury level, the report said.

Exposure to toxic heavy metals poses a specific risk to toddlers and infants because they absorb more than adults and their brains are still developing, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Experts point out though that heavy metals are found all over, and in order to suffer detrimental effects, a person would have to be exposed to toxic heavy metals for a prolonged period of time, and a one-time ingestion of the levels found in baby food products would not be considered dangerous.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends screening for elevated lead levels in children 9 to 12 months old, and again around age 2.

The AAP also has guidelines for parents to help shield their children from toxic heavy metals, which enter food through water and soil as well as from during the manufacturing and packaging processes.

In the new report released Wednesday, the subcommittee says Beech-Nut recalled just two of its six infant rice cereal products that tested over the FDA’s limit of inorganic arsenic earlier this year, while Gerber did not recall either of its two products that also tested over the limit.

In response to the report, a Beech-Nut spokesperson told ABC News in a statement, “Our process of manufacturing baby food does not contribute heavy metals to the final product. Heavy metals are found naturally in our environment. They are in the soil, the water, the air — and are therefore unavoidable in our overall food supply.”

As part of its continuous improvement practices, Beech-Nut continues to work with the FDA to identify the best practices, which may include “finished product testing,” according to the statement.

Gerber told ABC News that it is “committed to reducing the levels of heavy metals in our baby foods to the lowest levels possible.”

“The FDA made us aware of their contact from the State of Alaska about a sample of our rice cereal that tested slightly above the guidance level for inorganic arsenic set by the FDA, and was referenced in the report. The FDA retested the sample, was unable to confirm the result by Alaska and confirmed to Gerber that no action was needed,” the company said in a statement. “While the Subcommittee report notes proposed limits on specific heavy metals, those are based on proposed standards from the Baby Food Safety Act, which are not current law or regulation. All Gerber foods have and continue to meet all applicable guidelines and limits set by the FDA, the governing body for safety regulations in the food industry.”

The subcommittee report also names Plum Organics, whose products it says are “tainted with high levels of toxic heavy metals.” It also calls out Walmart for weakening its arsenic standard in baby food products, calling the decision “an extreme course reversal on efforts to protect babies’ neurological development.”

Sun-Maid, which purchased Plum Organics in May from Campbell Soup Co., did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Campbell Soup Co. told ABC News that it continues to “support the FDA’s efforts in setting clear and specific science-based federal standards.”

“For more than 150 years, Campbell has placed the safety of our consumers above all else,” the company said in a statement. “We have cooperated with the subcommittee throughout this process and will continue to do so. In fact, we released the data highlighted in this report in February 2021 and published it on our web site at that time.”

Walmart said in response to the report’s findings that it has “always required that our suppliers’ products meet the guidelines established by the FDA.”

“Our specifications have always been aligned with or below the FDA requirements for naturally occurring elements and the FDA noted in April that its testing shows that children ‘are not at an immediate health risk to exposure,” Walmart said in a statement to ABC News. “We are encouraged the FDA launched a collaborative process to establish science-based standards for infant and baby foods and look forward to further guidance.”

Masking in classrooms decreases COVID outbreaks, additional research shows

September 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The debate over requiring children to wear masks at schools rages on, but not among doctors or scientists — or teachers.

Multiple recent studies have shown that masks effectively slow virus transmission and prevent school closures. Three such studies were just published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report on infectious diseases.

Kara McCormick-Lyons, a seventh grade teacher and president of the White Plains Teachers’ Association in Westchester County, said the new findings weren’t surprising.

“Of course it works,” McCormick-Lyons said. “Physical distancing, masking, being outdoors when you can, all of these things make a difference.”

Whatever mild discomfort children may experience from wearing a mask, she added, is a small price to pay and “if that’s what we have to do to all stay here [in school], then it’s well worth it.”

One recent study from Arizona found the odds of an outbreak were 3.5 times higher in learning environments without a mask requirement. Additionally, schools that implemented mask mandates before school restarted in the fall have had fewer outbreaks compared to schools that more recently adopted the policy.

J. Mac McCullough, an associate professor at Arizona State University and co-author of the study in Arizona, said the results further bolster existing guidelines.

The research “aligned with the CDC’s recommendation for masking in schools as one part of a layered approach to preventing COVID-19 outbreaks in K-12 schools,” he added.

Another study that examined multiple states found the number of schools reporting COVID-related closures in August and early September was greatest in the South, where fewer mandates are in effect. States including Tennessee, Texas and Georgia have reported upwards of 200 COVID-related school closures.

Another nationwide study showed COVID cases were higher in counties without mandatory masking. For every 100,000 kids, there were 18 fewer COVID cases per day in counties where schools had mask mandates, although the study’s authors did note that it’s difficult to conclude masks alone are responsible for that discrepancy when factoring in social behaviors and other potential variables among communities.

Negotiations on Biden’s infrastructure bill intensify at Congressional Baseball Game

September 30, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Intense phone calls, ice cream and bipartisanship. The Congressional Baseball Game had it all as lawmakers of all stripes came together Wednesday night to enjoy a little of America’s favorite pastime: baseball.

The game came hours before a potential government shutdown and crucial infrastructure bill vote.

Though many lawmakers were at Washington National’s park ready to play ball, business was still booming on the Hill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced senators reached a deal to avert a government shutdown just hours before it would’ve taken effect. But it wasn’t game over for Democrats just yet.

On Thursday, lawmakers are set to vote on President Joe Biden’s widely-touted $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The White House has struggled to get moderates like Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Joseph Manchin, D-W.Va., on board as well as other progressives who worry about social spending programs being cut from the bill as a result of those negotiations. If Thursday’s vote fails, it would be a big hit to Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, and it would highlight a lack of party consensus for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.

So Wednesday’s game had more implications than just the usual bragging rights, and it showed, because big players came out, and not just to cheer on their colleagues.

After the first inning, the game paused. Then, Biden made his way out from behind home plate. At the same time, fans sitting in the Democratic fan section erupted into cheers while Republican fans booed the president and chanted for the game to resume.

Biden sat in the Democrats’ dugout for some time, talking with lawmakers. On multiple occasions, lawmakers handed the president their phones to either take photos with them or jump on calls. More than once he was seen looking intense while leaning on the railing of the dugout and talking on the phone.

But, it wasn’t all work. Biden handed out ice cream bars to both teams, complete with the presidential seal.

House Speaker Pelosi and second gentleman Doug Emhoff didn’t suit up to play, but they were in attendance, cheering on Democrats. Pelosi was also busy multitasking, watching the game while talking to several people on the phone. She spent most of the night busy with negotiations as Democrats go into crunch mode trying to get lawmakers on the same page ahead of Thursday’s infrastructure vote. Her palpable tension came after progressive Democrats on Tuesday warned Pelosi and other party leaders that without a deal on a broader social policy bill, they did not intend to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Earlier in the evening Wednesday, Biden was inducted into the Congressional Baseball Hall of Fame. His granddaughter, Naomi Biden, accepted the award on his behalf, leading many to believe the president was caught up in infrastructure negotiations at the time.

And hopefully those negotiations went better off the field for Democrats than on the field. Republican lawmakers led for most of the night and ended up taking home the trophy, with a score of 13-12.

The Congressional Baseball game has been played since the early 1900s. It’s a chance for members of Congress to put aside their political differences on the Hill and instead take them to the mound. The game supports Washington, D.C., charities and philanthropies, which include The Washington Literacy Center, The Boys and Girls Club and the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.

Jelani Day’s family suspects foul play in son’s death, urges public for answers: ‘Somebody knows something’

September 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(BLOOMINGTON, Ill.) — The family of Jelani Day, an Illinois grad student and aspiring doctor whose body was found floating in the Illinois River five days ago, is desperately searching for answers.

Day’s body was found on Sept. 4 and was identified by the LaSalle County Coroner on Sept. 23 through forensic dental identification and DNA testing.

“Jelani did not just disappear into thin air. Somebody knows something, somebody seen something and I need somebody to say something,” Day’s mother, Carmen Bolden Day, told “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.

“I’m very upset because I can’t even look at my son’s body. His body has deteriorated to the point where I can’t say a proper goodbye to him,” she said.

The 25 year-old was living in Bloomington, Illinois, and studying at Illinois State University and was reported missing by his family on Aug. 25 — two days after they had last spoken with him, according to a joint press release from police and the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office.

He was last seen at the university campus on Aug. 24 and his car was found two days later in Peru, Illinois.

Family attorney Hallie Bezner told “GMA” that Day has never been to Peru before and his family suspects foul play.

“The wallet was found in a different area. The lanyard, which it had a school ID on it was not found with the wallet, it was found in a different area — the area with some clothes that were found last week,” Bezner said.

Police in Peru are working to identify a man captured on security cameras knocking on the front door of a home that is close to the location where Day’s body was found. The video was captured a day after Day was last seen and police are urging the public to help identify the man.

The home is in an area that is predominantly white and the owner of the property said that he did not know the male captured on the home security video but after seeing images of Day on the news, sent the video to the police, thinking it could be Day.

Bolden Day said that the Black male seen in the footage is not her son, but wondered whether the man in the video could be connected to her son’s death and said she wished the video had been shared with the public sooner.

Day’s cause of death has not been determined and authorities have not yet named any suspects in Day’s death.

Bolden Day said it was frustrating to see cases like 22-year-old Gabby Petito, a travel blogger whose body was found in Wyoming, get media immediate attention, while her son’s death did not get widespread coverage until his body was identified weeks later.

“I see that Gabby is missing and I see [her] getting the help. I wasn’t getting that attention,” she said.

Since his body was identified, Day’s death has garnered the attention of celebrities like Viola Davis and Lizzo, who have helped share his story and urged the public to help in getting answers surrounding his death.

“Jelani was ambitious. He was driven. He was focused. He was energetic. He was full of life. Jelani was a person that you couldn’t help but love,” Bolden Day said.

ABC News’ Vera Drymon and Jessy Mendoza contributed to this report.

Select committee issues subpoenas to 11 associated with planning of Jan. 6 rally

September 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack issued 11 subpoenas Wednesday to organizers of the pro-Trump rally outside the White House that turned into a march on the U.S Capitol.

The committee, which recently subpoenaed Trump’s closest aides and advisers for records and depositions by mid-October, is seeking documents and testimony as part of its investigation into the insurrection at the Capitol and Trump’s actions before, during and after the riot, along with Trump’s broader campaign to challenge the election results from inside and outside the federal government.

Trump himself addressed the rally, which was held just south of the White House on the National Mall.

As part of their inquiry, investigators are reviewing ties and communications between Trump White House associates and organizers of the “Stop the Steal” rally, which was planned for the day Congress convened to affirm the election results. Thousands of people traveled to D.C. for the event, with many going on to assault police officers and forcibly enter the U.S. Capitol, temporarily disrupting the electoral count.

Conservative activist Amy Kremer, who founded “Women for America First,” the group that put together the rally supporting Trump on the day of the electoral vote count, was singled out by the panel in their second tranche of subpoenas, along with her daughter, Kylie.

Caroline Wren and Maggie Mulvaney, who were listed on the event permits with the National Park Service, were also subpoenaed, the committee said. Mulvaney is the niece of former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and worked on Trump’s presidential campaign.

“The Select Committee is investigating the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack and issues relating to the peaceful transfer of power, in order to identify and evaluate lessons learned and to recommend to the House and its relevant committees corrective laws, policies, procedures rules, or regulations,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson wrote in the letter to each subpoena recipient. “The inquiry includes examination of how various individuals and entities coordinated their activities leading up to the events of January 6, 2021.”

The panel also subpoenaed Hannah Salem, a GOP operative who was listed on the paperwork and previously served as a senior Trump White House press aide.

Katrina Pierson, a former Trump campaign adviser and Tea Party activist who served as a campaign spokesperson in 2016 and spoke at the Jan. 6 rally was also subpoenaed by the committee.

“Americans will stand up for themselves and protect their rights, and they will demand that the politicians that we elect will uphold those rights, or we will go after them,” Pierson said at the rally.

The others subpoenaed were Cynthia Chafian, who submitted the first permit application for the event, and Justin Caporale, Tim Unes, Megan Powers and Lyndon Brentnall, all of whom were listed on permit paperwork.

The committee said Wednesday it had notified the recipients of the subpoenas within the past 24 hours.

Thompson told reporters last week that the committee could also issue subpoenas to former President Trump’s children as part of its investigation. Trump’s two eldest sons, Donald Jr., and Eric, spoke at the rally, as did his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, and Don Jr.’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and Trump campaign adviser.

If there’s a government shutdown, here’s what you need to know

September 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A possible government shutdown is looming as funding runs out at the end of the day Thursday, and Congress has yet to pass a temporary measure to keep the government going.

If one passes both the Senate and House it could be on President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature by Thursday.

But if Congress fails to act, a government shutdown could begin as early as Friday.

If there’s a government shutdown, does everything close?

No, not everything. A full government shutdown would mean federal agencies close their doors or reduce their operations to only what is deemed essential. Programs and agencies that receive mandatory funding or are self-sufficient, such as the U.S. Postal Service, will continue to operate. Only those programs and agencies that are dependent on annual appropriations will be running with empty pockets.

Essential services necessary for public safety such as air traffic control and law enforcement will keep operating — though not necessarily at the same levels.

If essential services continue, why should I care?

During a shutdown, agencies are stripped to the bone, providing only what is necessary to protect life and property or what is required by law. Agency services most directly connected to the public are likely to cease or be severely delayed, seeing “tremendous disruption and uncertainty” as they adjust to reduced staff and operations, according to David Reich of the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

National parks and Smithsonian museums will close, and while people will still receive their Social Security payments, benefit verification, processing overpayments and issuing replacement Medicare cards will stop.

There could be delays in air travel with reductions in the Transportation Security Administration’s workforce. If you have any questions about your taxes, there won’t be anyone on the other end of the line at the Internal Revenue Service because it will not be continuing its customer service.

Will the CDC and FDA close – even though we’re in a pandemic?

No, but there might be delays. Among those agencies that typically see a reduction in operations are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. While these agencies are integral to coronavirus vaccine distribution and combating the coronavirus, they will be continuing their pandemic-related functions at a much-reduced capacity.

The Department of Health and Human Services, the umbrella agency over the CDC, FDA and NIH, will be furloughing 43% of its employees, according to its shutdown contingency plan. Agencies are responsible for creating their own plans for how they will continue operating if money runs out.

Do we know for sure what services will stop?

Yes, and no. Last week, the White House budget office, the Office of Budget and Management, reminded senior agency officials to review and update their shutdown plans. Some agencies have released their plans outlining what is expected to continue and what will be put on hold.

But according to Maya MacGuineas, the president of the nonpartisan think tank Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, it’s never clear until a shutdown which services will pass the absolutely necessary test.

“But one thing is for sure, a lot of people will go home and won’t be doing their jobs and that slows down the process of just about everything,” she said.

How many workers will be affected?

There are about 2.1 million civilian federal employees, according to the Congressional Research Service. During a shutdown, federal employees are either sent home or asked to work without pay.

For example, the Department of Defense is planning to reduce its civilian workforce by 55%, and the Environmental Protection Agency will be furloughing 99% of its employees.

For a small fraction of federal employees, their salaries are financed through funding other than appropriations.

Yet for the majority of the federal workforce, the essential employees left staffing agencies would be missing out on their paychecks.

Jacqueline Simon, public policy director of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing over 700,000 government workers, said that for many federal employees, the lack of a paycheck creates tremendous hardship.

“They have rent to pay. They have mortgages to pay, insurance payments, car payments, child support,” she said. “There is a myth that federal employees are all well paid professionals and that’s just not true.”

About a third of the employees the union represents fall into the category of people who make less than $40,000 a year and may not have the financial cushion to keep working without pay, Simon said.

Federal employees working through the shutdown get back pay, but that will not help them in the interim.

Will a shutdown affect the economy?

A government shutdown does not usually have widespread impacts on the economy unless they drone on for weeks. The 2018-2019 partial shutdown under the Trump administration resulted in economic losses of $1.2 billion each week; it was the longest in the nation’s history, lasting 35 days.

The longer a shutdown lasts, the more areas with high numbers of federal employees could see their local economies begin to suffer because those employees are not getting paid, according to Richard Kogan of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Government shutdowns create distrust with how the government functions and the uncertainty can impact the economy, MacGuineas said. Compounding the uncertainty is whether Congress is going to pass a raise or suspension to the debt ceiling so the U.S. does not default on its obligations, which is a separate and much more serious issue from the shutdown.

ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

Laundrie bought new cellphone before going on hike, FBI now in possession: Live updates

September 29, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NORTH PORT, Fla.) — A massive search is continuing in Florida for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman who went missing on a cross-country trip and who authorities confirmed as the body discovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

The search for the 23-year-old Laundrie is centered around North Port, Florida, where investigators said Laundrie returned to his home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her 2012 Ford Transit.

Laundrie has been named by police as a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. Laundrie has refused to speak to the police and has not been seen since Tuesday, Sept. 14, according to law enforcement officials.

The search for Laundrie is the latest twist in the case that has grabbed national attention as he and Petito had been traveling across the country since June, documenting the trip on social media.

Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not hearing from her for two weeks.

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:

Sep 29, 5:34 pm
Laundrie left behind new cellphone before going on hike, family attorney says

Brian Laundrie left a new cellphone at home before he went for a hike in the Carlton Reserve on Sept. 14, Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino confirmed to ABC News.

The phone was purchased on Sept. 4, Bertolino said, three days after Laundrie returned to his home in North Port from a cross-country trip. Laundrie opened an account with AT&T and the phone wasn’t a burner, Bertolino said.

The FBI now has the phone, according to Bertolino. The FBI had no comment to ABC News.

-ABC News’ Kristin Thorne and Whitney Lloyd

Sep 29, 11:00 am
Brian Laundrie and parents went camping after he returned home without Gabby Petito

The nationwide search for Brian Laundrie has turned to a Florida campground, where the wanted fugitive’s family attorney confirmed to ABC News he went camping with his parents about a week after returning home from a cross-country trip without his girlfriend, Gabby Petito.

Steven Bertolino, the attorney for the Laundrie family, said Brian Laundrie, his father, Christopher, and mother, Roberta, all went camping in early September at the Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County.

Bertolino confirmed the family went on the camping trip after ABC affiliate station WFTS in Tampa obtained the Fort De Soto Park reservation log under the Freedom of Information Act, which showed Roberta Laundrie checked in on Sept. 6 and checked out on Sept. 8.

A Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office helicopter was spotted circling Fort De Soto Park Monday night between 11:40 p.m. until 12:40 a.m., WFTS reported. The sheriff’s office only said the helicopter search of the park was part of an active investigation.

Bertolino said Laundrie returned to his family’s home in North Port, Florida, following the camping excursion. The parents, through their attorney, denied doing anything to help their son elude the FBI.

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