(IOWA) — The 27-year-old man convicted of first-degree murder in the 2018 abduction and killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts was sentenced on Monday afternoon to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, an undocumented farmworker from Mexico, was sentenced after a victim impact statement from Tibbetts’ mother, Laura Calderwood, was read in court by a victim advocate from the Iowa State Attorney General’s Office.
“I come here to give a voice to our daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin and friend, Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts,” Calderwood wrote. “Mollie was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet run on the evening of July 18 (2018) and you chose to violently and sadistically end that life.”
“Because of your act, Mollie’s father, Rob, will never get to walk his only daughter down the aisle,” she wrote. “Because of your act, Mr. Rivera, I will never get to see my daughter become a mother.”
Both Bahena Rivera and his attorneys declined to make a statement.
Poweshiek County District Court Judge Joel Yates announced the life sentence, and the punishment also includes an order for Bahena Rivera to pay the Tibbetts family $150,000 in restitution.
“Mr. Bahena Rivera, you and you alone forever changed the lives of those who loved Mollie Tibbetts,” Yates said.
Yates ordered that Bahena Rivera be immediately transferred to the Iowa Department of Corrections Medical and Classification Center to begin his sentence.
Bahena Rivera was convicted in May by a jury that deliberated for seven hours over two days.
Yates postponed the sentencing date after Bahena Rivera requested a new trial based on his and his attorneys’ claim that he was framed for Tibbetts’ slaying by the real killers.
Yates denied the motion for a new trial this month following a hearing in July. In his ruling, Yates wrote, “providing an alternative suspect is only a useful strategy when it is believable.”
The 20-year-old Tibbetts vanished on July 18, 2018, while out for a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. The case drew national attention as the search for Tibbetts went on for a month and a reward fund for information about her whereabouts ballooned to nearly $400,000.
Tibbetts’ body was recovered from a cornfield in Poweshiek County District after Bahena Rivera led investigators to the remains.
During Bahena Rivera’s trial, the jury heard two wildly contrasting theories of what happened to Tibbetts.
Iowa police investigators testified that they questioned Bahena Rivera after his car, a black Chevrolet Malibu, was captured on surveillance video circling the neighborhood in Brooklyn at the time Tibbetts was last seen alive jogging in the area.
During a lengthy interview, investigators testified that Bahena Rivera allegedly told them he saw Tibbetts jogging and thought she was “hot.” They said he claimed to have followed Tibbetts, gotten out of his car and jogged alongside her, but she rejected his advance and threatened to call the police.
Investigators said Tibbetts was stabbed repeatedly but that Bahena Rivera told them he blacked out and did not recall attacking her. He said he later remembered putting Tibbetts’ body in the trunk of his car when he noticed her earbuds in his lap while he was driving. He claimed, according to investigators, that he drove to the cornfield and buried Tibbetts body under leaves.
In a stunning twist, Bahena Rivera, who speaks little English, testified in his own defense at his trial, claiming he was kidnapped by two masked and armed men, who forced him to drive to where Tibbetts was jogging and one of them killed her and put her body in his car’s trunk.
He claimed he put Tibbetts’ body in the cornfield, but did not go to the police because the kidnappers threatened to harm his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his young daughter, if he spoke to authorities.
(WASHINGTON) — The Education Department on Monday launched civil rights investigations into five states that have barred indoor masking mandates, alleging that the governors are creating an unsafe learning environment for students with disabilities at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
It’s an aggressive new legal tack from the Biden administration to challenge Republican governors who insist indoor mask mandates don’t work.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that schools are generally safe if students and staff universally wear masks. School districts who struggled with COVID-19 outbreaks this year – oftentimes sending thousands of kids home – typically did not require masks.
The investigations focus on Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. The Education Department says it is not including Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona at this time “because those states’ bans on universal indoor masking are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
Officials said the terror group ISIS-K carried out what the Pentagon called a “complex attack” outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 13 American service members and wounding 20, among scores of Afghan casualties.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House last week, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he warned of the threat of attacks on the ground.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 12:20 pm
Final hours of US troop withdrawal ‘particularly dangerous time’
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said “the threat remains high, and it remains real” outside Karzai International Airport airport in Kabul as the U.S. military faces its final hours ahead of President Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline for a full military withdrawal. He said threats were “active and in many cases still specific.”
“Non-combat evacuation operations are dangerous, period,” Kirby said. “The end of them, particularly one in that, in an environment that we can’t consider, clearly cannot consider permissive, are particularly dangerous.”
“We are in a particularly dangerous time now,” he added. “Not that it hasn’t always been dangerous, but it is particularly dangerous now.”
Kirby repeatedly declined to provide specific details about the withdrawal’s final hours but did say the military had the ability to evacuate people “until the very end.”
He said “yes” he was sure all troops would be out by the deadline but declined to say exactly what time the deadline would be — whether it was Kabul time, or otherwise.
He also wouldn’t say whether the U.S. planned to leave behind the U.S. military’s anti-projectile C-RAM defense system.
“Commanders are in-flowing and out-flowing those requirements needed to complete the mission,” he said.
Aug 30, 10:31 am
ISIS-K claims rocket strike on Kabul airport: SITE
ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul with six Katyusha rockets on Sunday, according to a communique issued by ISIS-K on Monday and translated by SITE Intelligence Group.
ISIS-K claimed the rocket landed with “direct hits.”
The message comes just before nightfall in Kabul and one day before Biden’s Aug. 31 military withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News late Sunday that it appeared that as many as five rockets were fired toward the airport in Kabul. There were no signs of casualties at the time, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement early Monday stressing that U.S. operations would continue uninterrupted.
ISIS-K also claimed responsibility for last week’s suicide bomber attack outside the airport which left 13 U.S. service members and 169 Afghans dead.
Over the weekend, the U.S. struck two ISIS-K targets in Afghanistan, including a person believed to be planning future attacks. An Afghan health official reported that in one of those strikes, six Afghan civilians were also killed, including four children.
Aug 30, 7:59 am
US, allies evacuate 1,250 people from Kabul in past 24 hours
The United States has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of some 116,700 people from Kabul since Aug. 14, when the Taliban closed in on Afghanistan’s capital, according to a White House official.
In a 24-hour period from Sunday to Monday, 26 U.S. military flights carried approximately 1,200 evacuees out of Kabul. Another 50 people were evacuated via two coalition aircraft. During the previous 24-hour period, about 2,900 people were evacuated.
Since the end of July, approximately 122,300 people have been relocated from Kabul via U.S. military and coalition flights, the White House official said.
Aug 30, 7:23 am
Americans are not being turned away at Kabul airport, ambassador says
The evacuation effort in Kabul remains a “high-risk operation,” according to Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. But he denied that Americans are being turned away by U.S. forces or embassy personnel at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“This is a high-risk operation,” Wilson wrote on Twitter early Monday. “Claims that American citizens have been turned away or denied access to HKIA by Embassy staff or US Forces are false.”
Several Republican lawmakers and other critics have accused the Biden administration of refusing to admit U.S. citizens at the airport in Kabul and leaving them behind.
The U.S. Department of State said Sunday that 250 Americans were still seeking to get out of Afghanistan. They have been given specific instructions on when or how to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport, although that journey is still fraught and dangerous. All airport gates are closed and the security threat there remains high.
Aug 30, 1:16 am
US anti-missile system fired to intercept rockets at Kabul airport
There are no signs of casualties Sunday night after five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The official said the U.S. military’s anti-projectile C-RAM fired to intercept the incoming rockets, though it is not yet clear how many it took out, if any.
The airport remains operational and flights are continuing, the official added.
Aug 30, 1:16 am
Multiple rockets fired in attack on Kabul airport
As many as five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Sunday evening, a U.S. official confirms to ABC News.
ABC News is still trying to assess whether there were any casualties inside the airport, whether the airport’s defensive counter rocket, artillery, and mortar system was used, and if there were any U.S. counter strikes against suspected launch positions.
Aug 29, 8:55 pm
Former acting FEMA administrator to lead Afghan refugee resettlement
Bob Fenton, the former acting Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, is set to lead the efforts to resettle Afghans who are coming to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas chose Fenton after President Joe Biden tasked the agency to lead the federal coordinating efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the resettling group will report directly to Mayorkas and will include a plethora of services from immigration processing to COVID-19 testing.
“The Department of Homeland Security is prepared to serve as the lead federal agency coordinating efforts across the federal government to welcome vulnerable Afghans to our Nation in a way that is consistent with our laws and our values,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
The “Unified Coordination Group” will work with Homeland Security’s partners in state and local governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
(NEW YORK) — Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.
It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record — by both wind speed and pressure — to roar ashore in Louisiana.
Ida, now a tropical storm, is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 12:45 pm
AT&T wireless at 60% in Louisiana
AT&T said its Louisiana wireless network is operating at 60%.
“We had key network facilities go offline overnight, and while some have already been restored, some facilities remain down and are inaccessible due to flooding and storm damage,” AT&T said in a statement.
Aug 30, 12:24 pm
New Orleans to evacuees: Do not return until further notice
New Orleans residents who evacuated their homes should not return until further notice, the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said.
“There is widespread debris, power remains out, and emergency services are working to respond to those still in the city,” city officials said. “We will let you know when it is safe to come home.”
If you have evacuated out of #NOLA, we request that you DO NOT RETURN until further notice. There is widespread debris, power remains out, and emergency services are working to respond to those still in the city. We will let you know when it is safe to come home. #Idapic.twitter.com/r6rSzGxLX0
Tropical Storm Ida, now about 40 miles southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, is still bringing flash flood warnings to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Monday.
Up to 18 inches of rain has pummeled Louisiana. Up to 9 inches fell in Mississippi.
A tornado watch remains in effect in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
By Tuesday, Ida will move northeast into the Tennessee River Valley.
By Wednesday night into Thursday, Ida will track into the Northeast, dropping up to 6 inches of rain. Major flooding is possible along the Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Philadelphia.
Aug 30, 10:40 am
New Orleans airport expects all flights to be canceled
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is conducting damage assessments and said it expects all flights to be canceled Monday.
The airport added that passengers should check directly with their airlines for more information.
Aug 30, 10:29 am
Historic landmark tied to Louis Armstrong collapses
The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, a historic national landmark in New Orleans, is one of the multiple buildings that collapsed when Ida walloped the city.
The brick two-story shop, a former tailor business in the Central Business District of the city, dates back to 1913 and is where Louis Armstrong worked before embarking on his legendary jazz career.
The family that owned the shop provided a second home for Armstrong and loaned him money to purchase his first cornet, according to the National Park Service.
Aug 30, 10:17 am
Governor expects death toll to go up ‘considerably’
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told MSNBC Monday that search and rescue efforts are ongoing and he expects Ida’s death toll to “go up considerably throughout the day.”
Helicopters are surveying damage because it will take “many days” to reach Louisiana’s southern coastal areas by ground, he said.
Nearly all of southeast Louisiana is without power, the governor said. All eight major lines that feed electricity to the New Orleans area have failed.
Aug 30, 8:20 am
‘We’re a broken community right now’
The president of hard-hit Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday that all communication lines with Grand Isle were down.
Cynthia Lee Sheng said about 40 people are believed to have stayed on the barrier island, located about 100 miles south of New Orleans.
“We have lost contact with them since yesterday afternoon,” Sheng said. “We have first responder teams out there planning their strategy for today, ready to go out.”
Sheng also said there were concerns about Lafitte, Louisiana, saying officials had received reports of people trapped in their attics by high water.
“This is an area if you want to think of it like swampland, there’s alligators out there,” Sheng said.
She said rescue workers have not been able to reach the area due to darkness and downed power lines.
In addition to thousands in the area losing power, Sheng said the parish was losing pressure in its water system.
“We’ve had a lot of water main breaks,” she said. “Our water system is losing pressure and so in order to be able to fight fires, that is a very critical element. So, we’re trying to clear roads to do those water repairs.”
Sheng added, “We’re a broken community right now.”
Aug 30, 7:33 am
Over 1.1 million customers without power in 2 states
Ida, with its blustery winds and torrential rain, has left more than 1.1 million utility customers without power in Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday morning.
More than 1 million customers were without electricity in Louisiana, mostly in the southeast part of Bayou State where Ida made landfall, according to state emergency management officials.
In Mississippi, another 105,417 homes and businesses were without electricity, state officials said.
Aug 30, 5:41 am
Ida downgraded to tropical storm
About 16 hours after making landfall in Louisiana, Ida was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday morning.
As of 4 a.m. CT, Ida was moving north at 8 miles per hour with the eye of the storm located about 95 miles south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, and 50 miles north-northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The storm’s maximum sustained winds have decreased near 60 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.
The storm surge warning has been discontinued from Morgan City to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued west of Grand Isle. The hurricane warning has been replaced with a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans. Storm surge and tropical storm warnings remain in effect for Grand Isle to the Alabama-Florida border, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, 16 states from Mississippi to New Jersey are still on alert for flash flooding. A flash flood watch is in place from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey.
So far, the highest rainfall total was recorded in LaPlace, Louisiana, which received 15 inches. A flash flood emergency remains in effect there, according to the National Weather Service.
Ida is forecast to rapidly weaken even more over the next day or so, becoming a tropical depression by Monday evening.
The storm will move farther inland over southeastern Louisiana early Monday and into southwestern Mississippi later in the morning. Ida is then forecast to move over central and northeastern Mississippi on Monday afternoon and evening before moving across the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Aug 30, 4:40 am
Tornado warning issued for parts of southern Mississippi
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for eastern Harrison County and northwestern Jackson County, both in southern Mississippi.
As Hurricane Ida approaches the Magnolia State, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located via radar over Biloxi in Mississippi’s Harrison County early Monday at 2:46 a.m. CT. The “tornadic thunderstorm” was moving north at 65 miles per hour, according to an alert from the National Weather Service, which urged people to “take cover now!”
“Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows,” the National Weather Service said. “If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”
The storm could impact the Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport as well as several miles of Interstate 10 and 110 in Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado warning will remain in effect until 3:45 a.m. CT.
“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the National Weather Service warned. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
Aug 30, 4:16 am
New Orleans ‘experiencing technical difficulties’ with 911 system
The emergency communications center for New Orleans said it is “experiencing technical difficulties” with its 911 system, after the city lost power due to Hurricane Ida.
“If you find yourself in an emergency, please go to your nearest fire station or approach your nearest officer,” the Orleans Parish Communication District announced via Twitter early Monday. “We will update you once this issue has been resolved.”
(NEW YORK) — The European Union on Monday encouraged members to reinstate travel restrictions for visitors from the United States, as Americans deal with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
The U.S. on Monday was removed from the E.U.’s so-called “safe list” of countries for which travel restrictions (such as quarantine and testing requirements) were recommended to be gradually lifted. As a result, the E.U. is encouraging its 27-member nations to restrict non-essential travel from U.S. visitors.
The recommendation, notably, is not binding and the authorities of each member state remain responsible for implementing the recommendations.
Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, and the Republic of North Macedonia were also removed from the “safe list” on Monday.
The latest guidance reverses course from June when much of Europe began to welcome American tourists after over a year of pandemic-related travel restrictions. The U.S. has since dealt with an outbreak of the more-contagious delta variant that has caused new case counts to soar across the country. On Friday, the U.S. reported 176,742 new cases, and a 7-day moving average of some 147,030 new cases per day, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Just 63.3% of Americans age 18 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-10, according to CDC data. In the European Union, 67.4% of adults over the age of 18 have been fully vaccinated.
Travelers from Europe, meanwhile, are still largely barred from entering the U.S.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads. More than 637,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 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 61.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 30, 11:48 am
Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization drops, CDC says
The COVID-19 vaccines’ ability to keep people out of the hospital appears to be dropping slightly, particularly for those 75 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday during an advisory panel.
The CDC has previously estimated that 97% of people in the hospital being treated for COVID-19 are unvaccinated, but that data was collected before the spread of delta, a hyper-transmissible variant that many doctors have warned appears to be making people sicker.
The latest CDC analysis estimates that the ability of the COVID vaccines to keep a person out of the hospital is now between 75% to 95%.
For people older than 75 in particular, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization experienced the steepest decline, from more than 90% to 80% between June and July.
Health experts are also concerned that a person’s immunity could be waning over time, particularly among older people whose bodies are less likely than younger people to develop a strong immune response to the vaccines.
However, the vaccine still remains highly effective at preventing serious illness, according to the briefing.
(WASHINGTON) — The State Department announced Friday that it had made contact with 500 U.S. citizens who still needed to be evacuated from Afghanistan. Among them was the wife and children of Hewad, a U.S. citizen living in California.
“I’m worried. I’m worried about my family who are stranded in Kabul, Afghanistan, for the past two weeks,” Hewad, who asked ABC News to use only his first name, recently told ABC News. “We have been trying everything possible to get them out but there is no way.”
Hewad’s wife had taken their two young children to Afghanistan last month to visit a sick family member. When the Taliban reclaimed power earlier this month, they quickly became trapped, Hewad said.
“They are in danger. The whole family is in danger,” said Hewad. “Everyone [is] a citizen… I am afraid for their life. I may lose them or they may die.”
Hewad’s wife, who asked not to be named, went into hiding while he and attorney Richard Sterger worked from the U.S. to organize the family’s documents so that they could be evacuated safely.
ABC News and Hewad were able to speak to his wife on Thursday after the terrorist attack around the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. servicemen. The death toll of Afghan civilians is reported to be up to 170 and nearly 200 wounded according to an official at the ministry of public health who spoke on condition of anonymity with ABC News.
During the call, she told him the family had planned to go to the airport that day but ultimately decided not to
“We’re thankful that we didn’t go because they’re hurt,” she said.. “That’s why we decided to stay hidden.”
Amid the chaos, President Joe Biden said Monday during a press conference that he would not extend the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops. Hewad said that he and his wife were losing hope.
“We were hoping to get out, but now I don’t think we would be able to do that,” said Hewad’s wife.
Hours later, her outlook changed. On Friday, ABC News learned that the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan had been able to reach Hewad’s family and that they were given an evacuation plan. She and the children were able to get on a flight to safety.
(NEW YORK) — Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.
It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record — by both wind speed and pressure — to roar ashore in Louisiana.
Ida, now a tropical storm, is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 10:40 am
New Orleans airport expects all flights to be canceled
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is conducting damage assessments and said it expects all flights to be canceled Monday.
The airport added that passengers should check directly with their airlines for more information.
Aug 30, 10:29 am
Historic landmark tied to Louis Armstrong collapses
The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, a historic national landmark in New Orleans, is one of the multiple buildings that collapsed when Ida walloped the city.
The brick two-story shop, a former tailor business in the Central Business District of the city, dates back to 1913 and is where Louis Armstrong worked before embarking on his legendary jazz career.
The family that owned the shop provided a second home for Armstrong and loaned him money to purchase his first cornet, according to the National Park Service.
Aug 30, 10:17 am
Governor expects death toll to go up ‘considerably’
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told MSNBC Monday that search and rescue efforts are ongoing and he expects Ida’s death toll to “go up considerably throughout the day.”
Helicopters are surveying damage because it will take “many days” to reach Louisiana’s southern coastal areas by ground, he said.
Nearly all of southeast Louisiana is without power, the governor said. All eight major lines that feed electricity to the New Orleans area have failed.
Aug 30, 8:20 am
‘We’re a broken community right now’
The president of hard-hit Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday that all communication lines with Grand Isle were down.
Cynthia Lee Sheng said about 40 people are believed to have stayed on the barrier island, located about 100 miles south of New Orleans.
“We have lost contact with them since yesterday afternoon,” Sheng said. “We have first responder teams out there planning their strategy for today, ready to go out.”
Sheng also said there were concerns about Lafitte, Louisiana, saying officials had received reports of people trapped in their attics by high water.
“This is an area if you want to think of it like swampland, there’s alligators out there,” Sheng said.
She said rescue workers have not been able to reach the area due to darkness and downed power lines.
In addition to thousands in the area losing power, Sheng said the parish was losing pressure in its water system.
“We’ve had a lot of water main breaks,” she said. “Our water system is losing pressure and so in order to be able to fight fires, that is a very critical element. So, we’re trying to clear roads to do those water repairs.”
Sheng added, “We’re a broken community right now.”
Aug 30, 7:33 am
Over 1.1 million customers without power in 2 states
Ida, with its blustery winds and torrential rain, has left more than 1.1 million utility customers without power in Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday morning.
More than 1 million customers were without electricity in Louisiana, mostly in the southeast part of Bayou State where Ida made landfall, according to state emergency management officials.
In Mississippi, another 105,417 homes and businesses were without electricity, state officials said.
Aug 30, 5:41 am
Ida downgraded to tropical storm
About 16 hours after making landfall in Louisiana, Ida was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday morning.
As of 4 a.m. CT, Ida was moving north at 8 miles per hour with the eye of the storm located about 95 miles south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, and 50 miles north-northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The storm’s maximum sustained winds have decreased near 60 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.
The storm surge warning has been discontinued from Morgan City to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued west of Grand Isle. The hurricane warning has been replaced with a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans. Storm surge and tropical storm warnings remain in effect for Grand Isle to the Alabama-Florida border, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, 16 states from Mississippi to New Jersey are still on alert for flash flooding. A flash flood watch is in place from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey.
So far, the highest rainfall total was recorded in LaPlace, Louisiana, which received 15 inches. A flash flood emergency remains in effect there, according to the National Weather Service.
Ida is forecast to rapidly weaken even more over the next day or so, becoming a tropical depression by Monday evening.
The storm will move farther inland over southeastern Louisiana early Monday and into southwestern Mississippi later in the morning. Ida is then forecast to move over central and northeastern Mississippi on Monday afternoon and evening before moving across the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Aug 30, 4:40 am
Tornado warning issued for parts of southern Mississippi
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for eastern Harrison County and northwestern Jackson County, both in southern Mississippi.
As Hurricane Ida approaches the Magnolia State, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located via radar over Biloxi in Mississippi’s Harrison County early Monday at 2:46 a.m. CT. The “tornadic thunderstorm” was moving north at 65 miles per hour, according to an alert from the National Weather Service, which urged people to “take cover now!”
“Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows,” the National Weather Service said. “If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”
The storm could impact the Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport as well as several miles of Interstate 10 and 110 in Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado warning will remain in effect until 3:45 a.m. CT.
“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the National Weather Service warned. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
Aug 30, 4:16 am
New Orleans ‘experiencing technical difficulties’ with 911 system
The emergency communications center for New Orleans said it is “experiencing technical difficulties” with its 911 system, after the city lost power due to Hurricane Ida.
“If you find yourself in an emergency, please go to your nearest fire station or approach your nearest officer,” the Orleans Parish Communication District announced via Twitter early Monday. “We will update you once this issue has been resolved.”
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Jill Biden, a mom of three, has been an educator for over 30 years. Dr. Biden is the First Lady of the United States and she continues to teach as a professor of writing at Northern Virginia Community College
Parenthood is experiencing conflicting emotions at the same time—loving your children more than life itself, never wanting to let them go, while also understanding they will one day walk out the door without looking back, ready to conquer the world on their own.
It’s the tangled joy and fear of watching your child take their first step onto a school bus alone.
It’s wrestling with complicated problems and weighing risks—losing sleep, worrying about what path to take, wondering if you’re making the right choices.
As children return to in-person learning at schools across the country, however, it’s not the routine risks of childhood that are keeping parents awake at night. It’s the complicated realities of this pandemic.
Experience has already shown that virtual learning can leave kids feeling isolated and alone: The kindergartener who is exhausted by constantly focusing on her computer screen—but doesn’t have the language to express her discomfort. The middle-schooler who can’t get the hands-on guidance he needs and starts to believe that he is a failure—that he’s falling behind because he just isn’t smart enough. The talented high-schooler, hoping for an athletic scholarship in a sport she’s unable to play because sports have been canceled.
As this school year begins, families across the country thought we could exhale after so many difficult months and now we’re holding our breath once again.
So many are asking: How can I be sure that my child is safe? What do I do if our family is exposed to the virus? What will we do if we have to return to virtual learning?
Parents, I want you to know that your child, your school, and your family are at the heart of all that my husband, Joe, is doing to help our country defeat and ultimately recover from this pandemic.
As a teacher for over 30 years, and a mom even longer, I know that classrooms are so much more than places where our children learn math and reading.
We’ve all seen it: when our kids make friends that last for years, when they learn to settle disagreements or find confidence trying out for sports teams.
Parents rely on schools, too, heading to our jobs or pursuing our own education, knowing that our kids are in a safe and trustworthy environment.
This Administration is doing all we can to keep schools open and at the same time safeguard our children.
Public health officials have laid out clear guidelines on how schools can bring kids back to the classroom safely and the American Rescue Plan has provided the support schools need to hire additional staff, including nurses.
As we’ve seen this year, so many children are dealing with grief, loss, and trauma. In order to truly serve our kids, schools must support mental health with the social and emotional resources that students need to recover, learn and grow. That’s why we are helping schools hire more counselors and social workers.
I have so much faith in the community of educators who serve our students—from teachers to bus drivers to cafeteria workers. Their job is more than just a paycheck. They come to work because they care about students almost as much as parents do.
With classes beginning again, the uncertainty of COVID-19 remains.
Still, we do know that vaccines and wearing masks provide the best protection available against this virus.
To keep our schools open and safe this year, it will take all of us coming together—being honest about the risks we face, listening to science, and working as one.
(New York) — School board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for parents and local officials who disagree over mask and vaccine mandates as children return to brick-and-mortar learning.
At least nine states — Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — have laws or executive orders prohibiting mask mandates in classrooms.
Those rules have triggered legal challenges and public fury as many children returned to classrooms earlier this month, at a time when COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise due to the delta variant, but children under the age of 12 remain ineligible for the vaccine.
Mask opponents say masks inhibit kids from socializing and restrict breathing.
Advocates cite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s August guidance recommending universal indoor masking by students and staff at K-12 schools — regardless of vaccination status — due to the threat of delta.
Here’s a snapshot of the debate in four states:
Arizona
In Arizona, the Republican-led state that never imposed a mask mandate throughout the pandemic, Gov. Doug Ducey banned mask mandates in schools and required a return to in-person learning in July.
This month he announced that all school districts and charter schools in the state “following all state laws and remaining open for in-person learning” would be eligible for grant funding through the American Rescue Plan, and offered up to $1,800 per student.
Talitha Baker, a community activist in Arizona, called Ducey’s financial incentive a “bribe” that’s forced some schools to sacrifice face masks for money.
Earlier this month, the Chandler Unified School District voted against requiring face masks in the district of about 49,000 students and staff. Board member Joel Wirth stated, “I don’t think it’s worth losing $50-60 million dollars in funding that we can use to sanitize the facility and provide staff,” radio station KJZZ reported.
“My dad came to the [CUSD] board meeting Wednesday night to speak and he was moved to tears. He just couldn’t believe the way kids were being used as pawns,” Baker said.
“This is personal for us,” she said, noting that her nieces, ages 5 and 8, who attended school in nearby Queen Creek, “did catch COVID in their unmasked school, although they were masked, the week after school started.”
School Board member Lindsey Love was one of two board members who voted against keeping the current optional mask measure in place in Chandler.
She said that school board meetings have turned into a “circus” where people from out of the area have taken over. Love said a majority of parents in the district are in favor of masks.
“In our last meeting, it wasn’t a lot of Chandler parents, It was a lot of parents from some of the surrounding cities. We have a group that’s been going around to all the school board meetings to take over and push out the board,” Love told ABC News. “We’ve had board members receiving death threats. I’ve received death threats throughout this and harassment.”
Initially, people rallied at these meetings to open schools, then for and against masks, and now some people are against even quarantining kids who test positive for COVID-19, Love said.
“These meetings have become a bit of a circus. It’s not just masks that they don’t want. They read from this list, ‘We don’t want you to muzzle our kids, or indoctrinate our kids with your critical race theory agenda,'” she said. “It’s just a really odd cobbling of issues.”
Florida
Meanwhile in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis gave parents the final say over whether children can wear masks or not.
But the first week of school led to chaos with thousands of kids isolated or quarantined due to COVID-19 cases and exposure across the state.
At the Hillsborough County Public School District in Florida, over 10,000 students and staff were isolated or quarantined due to COVID one week into the school year.
In a heated school board meeting last week one mother of a student yelled, “Have any children died?” as a result of the virus. Some people in the audience shouted back that children have. One high school student told the anti-maskers, “This tiny piece of cloth is not taking away your freedom. … Grow up.”
The district ended up voting to institute a mask mandate for at least 30 days, but parents would still have the option to opt their kids out with a medical note.
So far at least 10 Florida school districts have implemented requirements for masks in the classroom with no parental opt-out, according to The Associated Press.
But Florida’s State Board of Education threatened financial penalties to some districts if they didn’t get rid of the mandates.
On Friday, a Florida judge ruled DeSantis’ executive order on banning mask mandates in schools as unconstitutional. DeSantis said he’d appeal that decision.
Texas
In the Lone Star state, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a ban on mask mandates in schools, triggering the Paris Independent School District in east Texas to add face coverings as a part of its dress code to get around the ban.
About 70 school districts have instituted mask mandates of some kind according to a list compiled by Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton.
Houston Independent School District, mandated masks on Aug. 11, a move praised by teachers in the city.
“Gov. Abbott is on the wrong side of science, health and safety,” Jackie Anderson, the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers said in a statement at the time.
One exasperated Texas father stripped down to his swim trunks as he advocated in favor of mask mandates during a meeting Monday for the Dripping Springs Independent School District, near Austin, where masks are currently optional for staff and students in the district.
James Akers, a father of three who has a child currently in high school, said during public comments at the meeting that he hated the jacket, shirt and tie he’s required to wear for work, and proceeded to take off all three.
His bold statement, he said, was to demonstrate that “we follow certain rules for a very good reason.”
On Wednesday, a Dallas judge issued a temporary injunction against Abbott’s ban, allowing mask mandates issued by local leaders and school districts to remain in place for the time being.
Louisiana
At the same time, states that have enacted mask mandates for schools, such as Louisiana, have seen fierce opposition.
Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s meeting earlier this month ended in chaos when a raucous crowd of angry parents packed into a hearing room and refused to wear face coverings, shouting “no more masks.”
One person screamed, “Don’t infringe on our rights!”
At the time, Louisiana had the nation’s highest rate of new COVID-19 cases per capita.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, defended the mask mandate for schools, saying on his monthly radio show, “It is the only way that we have a reasonable shot to keep schools open and kids safe.”
“There is no reasoning with some people,” Edwards said on mask opposers. “The vast majority of the people in Louisiana do take this seriously.”
