News – Page 2357 – 105.7 WDNY

Twelve grocery and food savings tips to take with you on your next shopping trip

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Trae Bodge, smart shopping expert, shared her tips for saving on groceries with Good Morning America, to help consumers keep costs down at checkout.

Consumer prices on food experienced the largest annual increase in over four decades since February 1981, with costs skyrocketing 10.4% in the 12-month period ending June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Within the “food at home” category — grocery store food products purchased for cooking or eating at home — prices rose 12.2% over the last year, the largest increase since 1979.

Top tips to stay on a budget in the grocery store:

Eat vegetarian

“You might find that poultry, meats, and fish have increased more in price than vegetables and other items, like rice and pasta,” Bodge said. “If that’s the case in your area, you could save a bundle by eating [vegetarian meals] a couple of nights a week.”

Use coupon sites to save

“You might think of coupon sites for clothing and tech, but not for food, when in fact coupon sites like CouponCabin.com have offers for grocery delivery, like $25 off $35 or more at Instacart or $55 off $99 or more,” she said of the simple at-your-fingertips savings option.

Don’t buy pre-cut produce

Buy fruits and vegetables whole and prepare them at home. “You’re paying for labor when you buy pre-cut,” she explained.

Look low and high on store shelves

“You’re more likely to find better deals on the lowest and highest shelves. Brands pay for prime real estate at eye level, but there are hidden gems in less visible spots,” Bodge suggested.

Read between the price tags

“You can determine whether or not an item is a good deal by comparing the cost-per-unit rather than the actual price,” she said, explaining that the sticker price doesn’t always reflect the total value.

Look out for “shrinkflation”

“Many brands are shrinking the size or weight of their products and charging the same price,” Bodge said, adding that shoppers should always check the unit prices when selecting items.

Join loyalty programs

Bodge advised using rewards programs — sticking to the stores where you shop most often — which may “offer a free way to earn points towards future purchases.”

“They offer exclusive deals and some will even allow you to qualify for free things, like a free turkey at Thanksgiving or a free gas card,” she said.

Credit cards with grocery perks

“Using the right credit card to buy your groceries could earn you some serious cash back. Cards with annual fees typically have more generous cash-back [offers], like 4% or more on food from American Express Gold, but there are some fee-free cards that offer this, including the Bread Cashback American Express from Bread Financial, which offers 2% cashback on all purchases,” she said. “Another good fee-free card is the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, which allows you to earn 5% on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases.”

Buy frozen

“In certain cases,” Bodge said, this tactic “can be a big money-saver.”

“I find this especially with fish and certain vegetables,” she added. “Plus, frozen has a longer shelf life.”

Buy generic

“You can save 20% or more by doing this and you’ll find that many of the ingredient listings match the brand name word for word,” Bodge said. “In fact, store brands or generics are often made in the same factories as the name brand.”

Buy seasonal produce

“You will do much better on price, versus buying things that need to be imported,” Bodge said. “Also, check out your local CSA — community-supported agriculture is a food system for farmers and producers to connect directly with consumers. This is a great way to support local farmers and the pricing is often very good.”

Bodge, however, recommended against “buying at farmers markets if you’re on a tight budget.”

Only buy in bulk on most-used items

“If there are certain items that you go through quickly, like toilet paper, pastas, canned goods or snacks for your kids’ lunches, buy them in bulk if you have a Costco or Sam’s Club membership,” Bodge suggested. “You can also often buy in bulk on Amazon and on a site like Boxed.com.”

Monkeypox vaccine available for kids on case-by-case basis, FDA says

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — With over 6,000 cases of monkeypox confirmed in the United States, including five children, the demand for the monkeypox vaccine is high.

And while the current vaccine, JYNNEOS, is approved only for adults ages 18 and older, it has been administered to children in the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA confirmed to ABC News that “numerous” children have been granted access to the vaccine through a special permission process.

If a doctor decides a person under 18 was exposed to monkeypox and the benefit of the vaccine is greater than any potential risk, they can submit a request to the FDA. Only children with direct exposure are granted access, and even then access is decided on a case-by-case basis

The FDA declined to state exactly how many children have received the vaccine to date through this special permission process.

The JYNNEOS vaccine, delivered in a two-dose regimen, has not been tested through clinical trials in children.

There have been no “adverse events to date” in delivering the vaccine to children in the U.S., and similar vaccines have been tested in children without serious safety concerns, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“JYNNEOS contains a non-replicating Vaccinia virus. While JYNNEOS has not been studied specifically for children or adolescents, the same non-replicating Vaccinia virus in the JYNNEOS vaccine has been used in studies as part of vaccines against other diseases including tuberculosis, measles, and Ebola,” the CDC said in a statement. “These studies included children as young as 5 months old, and no serious safety concerns were reported.”

Given the case-by-case basis of administering the monkeypox vaccine, there is no availability for mass vaccination of children at this time.

Children under the age of 8 are among those the CDC considers at “increased risk” for developing more severe illness if infected with monkeypox, along with pregnant people, people who are immunocompromised and those who have a history of atopic dermatitis or eczema.

Experts are not sure why children are at increased risk for severe illness, but it may be due to their immune systems and the fact that “younger children are sometimes more susceptible to some viral infections,” Dr. Richard Malley, senior physician in pediatrics, division of infectious diseases, at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News.

Monkeypox, also known as MPX, is spread primarily through direct, skin-to-skin contact between someone who has the virus and someone who does not, according to the CDC.

Typically, the disease begins with a fever, headache, fatigue, chills and muscle aches. The disease is similar to smallpox, however, monkeypox also causes swollen lymph nodes.

Within one to three days of initial symptoms, those infected typically develop a rash either on their face or other parts of the body, according to the CDC.

Per the World Health Organization, the lesions — or rash — start out as dark spots on the skin before progressing to bumps that fill with fluid.

Antiviral medications such as Tecovirimat, which is available for children, are currently being used for treatment of monkeypox.

Officials in the U.S. and around the world have expressed concern that there are not enough monkeypox vaccines to address the emerging crisis. With demand increasing, U.S. health officials have reported that 1.1 million doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine will be allocated to states and jurisdictions across the country.

Moderna, the maker of a COVID-19 vaccine, said Wednesday they have initiated a research program to consider whether the company could create a monkeypox vaccine with mRNA technology.

Any new vaccine would still need to go through the regulatory authorization process, which can take weeks to months, even in special circumstances.

Now that the Biden administration has declared the current monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency, the FDA could move to issue an emergency use authorization for the JYNNEOS vaccine for children under 18.

The FDA told ABC News it would still need to go through a process to evaluate if it would want to authorize the vaccine for a younger population.

ABC News’ Eric Strauss, Arielle Mitropoulos and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

Meta cracks down on cyberespionage, warns of ‘perception hacking’ ahead of midterm elections

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Meta said it is focused on continuing to disrupt emerging cybersecurity threats, including “perception hacking” efforts that could attempt to create unjustified fears about the security of U.S. elections.

In its new “Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report” released Thursday, Meta details how it took action on two cyberespionage operations and removed three networks that were engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB) — campaigns that seek to manipulate public debate.

Since 2017, the company says it has been able to disrupt the activities of coordinated networks aimed at manipulating users with fake accounts using coordinated inauthentic behavior. The efforts have been successful at driving these networks off of Facebook and have made it harder for other entities to maintain access on the social media platform, Meta says.

Meta says in the report that cyberespionage actors tend to target individuals across the internet in an effort “to collect intelligence manipulate them into revealing information and compromise their devices and accounts.”

Meta’s Facebook took action on two separate cyberespionage operations from South Asia this past quarter, both of which used malware to infect users’ devices. One of the operations was from the hacker group known as Bitter APT, the report says.

The hacker group targeted users with malware in New Zealand, India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, Meta’s report says.

The report also revealed the company had removed networks promoting misinformation and harassment in India, Indonesia, Greece and South Africa.

Additionally, Facebook removed three networks engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior, including one network linked to an Israeli public relations firm and two troll farms from Malaysia and Russia.

The Russian operation, the self-proclaimed CyberFront Z, focused on targeting global discourse on the war in Ukraine, the report says.

The pro-Russia operation attempted to mirror the anti-war communities defending Ukraine through the use of fake accounts run by paid posters, the report says. Despite the effort, pro-Ukraine and anti-war comments typically outnumbered the pro-Russia group’s comments.

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, a spokesperson for Meta told reporters the company has not seen any coordinated inauthentic behavior operations specifically targeting the November elections.

But the company warns of the idea of perception hacking — capitalizing on the public’s fear of influence operations by trying to create the false perception of widespread manipulation, even if there is no evidence.

David Agranovich, Meta’s director of threat disruption, told ABC News, “as we go into the midterm elections, I think the thing we’re particularly working to make sure we’re ready for is these perception hacking offers where the operations go anywhere where they tried to get eyeballs and amplification from other people talking about how effective they were.”

Agranovich said its important to counter these efforts.

“Make sure people understand that they’re just sometimes not that effective,” he said. “And yet, we’ll still be on high alert. We haven’t seen the CIB’s yet but we’re gonna keep watching.”

CPAC convention kicks off in Dallas ahead of Trump keynote speech Saturday night

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(DALLAS) — The annual Conservative Political Action Conference got underway Thursday in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest gatherings of conservatives and, since its inception in 1974, a crucial campaign stop for Republican hopefuls.

This year, organizers are hoping to galvanize a growing base of voters ahead of the upcoming midterm cycle with the aim of bringing a crashing “red wave” of GOP elected officials to Congress.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Fox News Anchor and GOP firebrand and Fox News host Sean Hannity kicked off the conference, focusing on migration, the weakness of Democrats, and big business. There was little mention of the issue of abortion despite the recent shift to a post-Roe America.

Headlining the three-day convention on Saturday night is Donald Trump who has teased running again president in 2024. The former president last spoke in late July at America First Policy Institute and Turning Point USA events in Washington where he focused primarily on promoting a harsh criminal justice agenda.

He’ll speak ahead of CPAC on Friday in Waukesha, Wisconsin, at a rally in support of Tim Michels, a Republican candidate for governor.

Abbott, who was absent from last year’s Dallas convention, was the first high-profile speaker on Thursday, joining a panel titled, “Texas: The Start of the Big Red Wave.”

He touted his friendship with Texas’ new business resident, Elon Musk of Tesla, addressed his busing of illegal immigrants to Washington and signified a growing trend of Latinos leaning toward Republican politicians.

“Texas believes in freedom Texas believes in the power of the individual. We want to have safe communities, a secure border. We want to cut your property taxes here in the Lone Star State because we know that is your money,” Abbott said to a cheering crowd on the panel with CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp and CPAC Senior Fellow Mercedes Schlapp.

“Keep Texas red. Fire Nancy Pelosi, impeach Mayorkas and put America on the right track.”

Speculation of a potential 2024 presidential bid has long followed Abbott, who energized the crowd talking about the potential economic growth in the Lone Star State.

“It was just in May this year that Texas became home to more Fortune 500 company headquarters than any other state in the United States of America,” he lauded.

He also took jabs at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who has recently targeted with Republican peers like Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while chatter swirls about his own ambitions for a 2024 the Democratic presidential nomination.

Newsom has swung at the Texas governor by modeling a new California gun restriction law after Texas’ “heartbeat act,” which prohibits abortions after as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The California governor has also run full-page ads in the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and El Paso Times to criticize Abbott’s stances on abortion rights and gun laws.

“The number one state Texans are moving to is California. Why would someone from Texas move to California? It’s because they like the Gavin Newsom type of liberalism,” Abbott said. “We have an exchange program going on,” he joked. “We’re getting the [Californian] conservatives, we’re sending them our liberals.”

Several other Texas conservatives are scheduled to speak at CPAC, including Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday morning, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday evening. Recently elected Rep. Mayra Flores is also slated to speak. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spoke on Thursday afternoon.

Along with Abbott on Thursday, in a speech titled “How We Fight,” was Orban — fresh off of meeting with Trump at the former president’s Bedminster, New Jersey, Golf Club. He repeated some of his most controversial views, railing against LGBTQ issues and migration and a decline in Christianity across the Western world.

“Our values save us from repeating history’s mistakes. The horrors of Nazis and Communists happened because Western states in Continental Europe abandoned their Christian values. And today’s progressives are planning to do the same. They want to give up on Western values,” he said.

“The globalists can all go to hell, I have gone to Texas,” Orban said as he closed his remarks.

Hannity then delivered a fiery speech, beginning with comments about “election integrity” in the ongoing vote counting in Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday.

“We still don’t know if Kari Lake won that race for governor. Why not? How do we expect to have integrity in our elections if they can’t count the votes in 24 hours?” he said.

Hannity also rallied the crowd about GOP chances in the coming midterm elections.

“We’ll get America back on track. And then we’ll win and 2024 and then we’ll be back in the ballgame. And we will be that that beautiful city on a hill that Reagan spoke about. Let’s make that our goal. Let’s make that our dream. Let’s make that our prayer. In Jesus name. You can say Jesus, this is CPAC,” he said.

Abbott and Orban, Patrick and Hannity’s appearances will also be joined by and other high-profile Republican figures, including former vice presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

Trump-endorsed Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake is also slated to speak. The former local Fox News anchor is currently awaiting official results from the state’s Republican primary, though she has already declared victory on multiple occasions and has indicated that she would not concede if the results weren’t favorable to her campaign.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is also in the lineup as the keynote speaker at CPAC’s Saturday night Cattleman’s Ball, a week after he was found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to to cooperate with investigations into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

CPAC will also feature its famed straw poll, a historically popular contest for gauging how popular Republican leaders are within the party.

This year will notably feature two separate straw polls — one with and another without Trump, who has won every one of the contests since 2019.

The CPAC main ballot will include Trump, DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Cruz, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also on the ballot are former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The 2024 straw poll without Trump will instead feature Donald Trump Jr., along with all the aforementioned potential hopefuls.

DeSantis emerged from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference held in Orlando, Florida, in February as the potential GOP presidential candidate most competitive with former President Donald Trump, coming in second at 28% and far more favored than other GOP prospects, including other CPAC speakers Pompeo, Noem and Cruz, who all got less than 2%.

ABC News’ Alina Kim contributed to this report.

Systemic issues plague American higher education, author says in new book

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two questions — “What is college for and who pays for it?” — form the foundation of a new book that explores a variety of systemic issues facing America’s higher education system.

Will Bunch, author of “After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics – and How to Fix It,” spoke to ABC News Live about the history of the student loan crisis and the future of the higher education system in America.

Bunch said the issues stem back to World War II. After the war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill, which provided veterans with funds for college education, among other benefits.

As a result, it made higher education a public good for millions of veterans and middle-class Americans, Bunch said. “The question we’ve been trying to resolve for the last 75 years, which is two questions: What is college for and who pays for it?”

As tuition steadily rose over the course of nearly a century, soon 1 out of 5 adults couldn’t attend college without borrowing money, according to Bunch. Now, as inflation rises and a recession looms, 1 in 5 Americans are holding on to student loan debt that has accrued to a national federal debt of over $1.7 trillion, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

“The thing is, to really succeed in this economy, most job recruiters are looking for that credential, a college diploma,” said Bunch, who shared the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting. “And so people feel they have no choice. They have to make this gamble of borrowing the money for college or the alternative could be worse.”

In his book, Bunch spoke to a variety of people, including college graduates who are struggling to manage six-figure loans and people who chose other alternatives to college.

Bunch said that people often believe what he says is an incorrect assumption that college is “available to all people,” and so it’s assumed that those who do not have a degree within the system are seen as “deficient.”

“We believe in the value that education is available to all people, but it’s up to you to make the most out of that opportunity,” said Bunch. “[Those who do not have a degree] are being told that… they have failed in life somehow by not getting this degree.”

Bunch said a viable solution would be to invest in other educational experiences, in lieu of a college degree.

“Education after age 18.. it doesn’t have to be in a university classroom. It could be a trade school, it could be an internship, it could be a gap year,” he said. “But I think these opportunities for our young people should be public good.”

Exclusive: Members of Congress urge Blinken to demand ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero’s release

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — While WNBA star Brittney Griner’s sentencing in Russia dominates headlines, members of Congress are urging the White House to do more to free yet another prominent figure — Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the acclaimed 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda.”

In a letter shared exclusively with ABC News on Thursday, Reps. Joaquin Castro and Young Kim asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “use all the diplomatic means at your disposal to ensure Mr. Rusesabagina’s safe return to the United States.” They implored the secretary to push Rwanda’s president for Rusesabagina’s “immediate release” during Blinken’s visit next week to the East African nation, where Rusesabagina has been held for nearly two years.

Rusesabagina, a lawful U.S. permanent resident, was the manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when divisions between Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups came to a head. The Rwandan government, controlled by extremist members of the Hutu ethnic majority, launched a systemic campaign with its allied Hutu militias to wipe out the Tutsi ethnic minority, slaughtering over the course of 100 days more than 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and the moderate Hutus who tried to protect them, according to estimates from the United Nations.

More than 1,200 people took shelter in the Hotel des Mille Collines during what is often described as the darkest chapter of Rwanda’s history. Rusesabagina, who is of both Hutu and Tutsi descent, said he used his job and connections with the Hutu elite to protect the hotel’s guests from massacre. The events were later immortalized in “Hotel Rwanda,” with American actor Don Cheadle’s portrayal of Rusesabagina earning an Academy Award nomination for best actor in 2005.

Rusesabagina, who fled Rwanda with his family in 1996 and later settled in San Antonio, Texas, rose to fame and was lauded as a hero after the movie’s release. In 2005, he was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the American president. He also wrote a book, gave paid speeches, and became an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has been in office for the last two decades.

In August 2020, Rusesabagina traveled to Dubai to meet up with a Burundi-born pastor who Rusesabagina alleges had invited him to speak at churches in Burundi about his experience during the Rwandan genocide. The pair hopped on a private jet that Rusesabagina believed would take them to Burundi’s capital, according to Rusesabagina’s international legal team.

Rusesabagina did not know that the pastor was working as an informant for the Rwanda Investigation Bureau and had tricked him into boarding a chartered flight to Kigali. He was subsequently arrested and tried on a slew of terrorism-related charges, with Rwandan prosecutors alleging that Rusesabagina wanted to go to Burundi to coordinate with rebel groups based there and in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Last September, Rusesabagina, who has maintained his innocence, was convicted on eight of nine terrorism-related charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison. In May, the U.S. Department of State determined that Rusesabagina has been “wrongfully detained.” In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the Biden administration to demand Rusesabagina’s release on humanitarian grounds.

In their letter to Blinken, Castro and Kim warned that if the U.S. does not take a firm stance on Rusesabagina’s detention, others may be at risk.

“Failure to address the actions of the Rwandan government will only embolden it to continue to target U.S. citizens and U.S. residents,” they wrote.

According to the State Department, Blinken intends to discuss Rusesabagina’s case during his upcoming visit to Rwanda. Speaking to ABC News on Thursday, a senior U.S. official declined to say whether Blinken would communicate any consequences for the Rwandan government if it fails to release Rusesabagina, but insisted that the Biden administration has been “very clear with the government of Rwanda about our concerns about his case, his trial, and his conviction, particularly the lack of fair trial guarantees.”

Castro and Kim said the Biden administration must move as a quickly as possible to secure Rusesabagina’s freedom due to his age and failing health.

“We also ask that you visit Mr. Rusesabagina, who is imprisoned under unsafe conditions and suffering from health issues that jeopardize his life,” they wrote in their letter. “Paul Rusesabagina is a 68-year-old cancer and stroke survivor who remains in poor health. He has been imprisoned for over 700 days without proper medical care.”

In a statement to ABC News on Thursday, Rusesabagina’s family expressed their gratitude that his case “is receiving attention from senior levels within the [Biden] administration and across Capitol Hill.”

“We appreciate in particular Secretary Blinken’s dedicated visit and hope his direct engagement will help bring our family nightmare to an end,” said Rusesabagina’s daughter, Anaise Kanimba.

“Rwanda is not an adversary country like Russia, China or Iran; it is a country that significantly benefits from U.S. taxpayer money and judicial cooperation,” she added. “If the administration can bring back other wrongfully detained [citizens] from Russia, it can certainly leverage its relationship with Rwanda.”

7 ways to reduce your risk of monkeypox

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — With the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency as the number of cases continue to rise, the most important thing you can do is know your risk level. Monkeypox is still rare and most people have a low risk.

But if you are in a city where monkeypox is spreading, and in a community where it’s spreading, you are at higher risk in this current phase of the outbreak.

The monkeypox outbreak first started spreading among men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary. The group continues to be at the highest risk. So far, the bulk of cases have been reported in large cities like New York and Los Angeles.

As the outbreak continues, the virus may soon start to spread further and begin to affect different demographic groups.

Experts interviewed by ABC News provided the latest on how to stay safe. Alongside these suggestions, the experts reiterated that at this time, the risk of transmission to the general population is low. But they agreed everyone should be aware of current outbreak and take steps to reduce risk.

Be alert: Avoid close or skin-to-skin contact with those who may have the virus

Direct, close, skin-to-skin contact “is considered to be the main route of transmission, which can occur in a variety of ways. It can occur just by day-to-day contact with a case of monkeypox, in close proximity, or can occur through intimate contact, as well as during sexual contact,” said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University.

Because monkeypox can spread during sexual intimacy, it’s important to “be honest and forthcoming with your intimate partners” about risks and possible prior exposures, said Richard Silvera, professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The CDC says monkeypox is contagious from the start of symptoms until the rash has healed. Two to four weeks is the typical length of illness.

“You can have a rash in multiple areas of the body, and that rash can look like many things. It can look like a pimple, it can look like a little bump that mimics folliculitis which is when the follicle of the hair gets infected, can be painless or painful,” said Dr. Robert Pitts, an infectious disease doctor at NYU Langone Health.

Don’t share: Avoid sharing towels, clothing and bed linens

The virus can spread through contaminated objects including “clothing, bed sheets, towels, and other porous materials,” says Dr. Anne Rimoin, professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

While this form of transmission is not nearly as common as skin-to-skin contact, it is something to keep in mind when sharing items with others.

“This virus could live on those surfaces for a period of time and then spread to another person,” Rimoin said.

The CDC also recommends avoiding utensils or cups used by someone with monkeypox.

General hygiene: Wash hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer

“Hand hygiene is the most important thing, not just for monkeypox but for any infectious disease,” says ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.

With hands being the vectors between all that we touch and where germs can enter– eyes, nose, mouth — hand hygiene is vital to staying healthy. Practices that have worked for the past two years, still work.

“Mask wearing, hand washing…if it works for COVID it’ll work for monkeypox as well,” says Silvera

Cover up: Being fully clothed may be safer, especially when encountering large crowds

To reduce the likelihood of skin-to-skin contact with someone who may be infected with the virus, wear clothing that covers your body.

The CDC says “festivals, events, and concerts where attendees are fully clothed and unlikely to share skin-to-skin contact are safer,” when compared to similar events with minimal clothing and close contact.

“These are not events where transmission is likely occurring, but of course, if you feel like you’re in a high risk category, you may want to exercise a little bit more caution,” says. Dr. John Brownstein, an ABC News contributor and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Disinfect: Wipe down surfaces that may be contaminated

Monkeypox is considered an orthopoxvirus, which are sensitive to many disinfectants, according to the CDC. They recommend disinfecting areas where someone with monkeypox has spent time, and for objects they may have used.

“At the same time, it’s not like people will need to go back to those old COVID days where there was a lot of confusion and wiping down of groceries and disinfecting household items where there’s literally no chance of any risk,” says Brownstein.

For those specifically in areas of high transmission, or are encountering surfaces or objects used by someone with monkeypox, disinfecting may provide additional protection.

The CDC recommends using an EPA registered disinfectant.

If eligible, get vaccinated: Reach out to a local health department

The CDC currently recommends that vaccines should be administered to those at risk of developing monkeypox. This includes those that have been exposed to monkeypox as well as people who are aware that one of their sexual partners in the past two weeks has been diagnosed or people with multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks living in an area with known monkeypox. People should stay up-to-date with their local health department to determine eligibility requirements.

“If we had a lot more [vaccine] supply, we might consider vaccination of groups that have very dense social networks, like college colleges, students, prisons, living situations that would potentially allow for multiple contacts where there could be risk,” says Brownstein.

Stay current: Be on the lookout for new information as it comes

“We’re all going to have to kind of pitch it together and kind of figure this out as we go,” said Silvera.

Even researchers and clinicians are learning more every day.

“I studied about [monkeypox] as an infectious disease physician, but just in May, I started to see and interact with monkeypox patients. So this has been a steep learning curve for me,” said Pitts.

Before now, the number of monkeypox cases has been relatively low. We will continue to learn more about the virus as time goes on and the guidance from experts will evolve as a result. But experts emphasize that remaining calm is important.

“This is quite different from the Coronavirus in so many ways and therefore I think people should be aware, concerned, but at the same time should not really panic,” said El-Sadr.

4 people in critical condition after apparent lightning strike at DC park

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Four people are in critical condition following an apparent lightning strike at a Washington, D.C., park, authorities said Thursday evening.

D.C. Fire and EMS said it had responded to Lafayette Park, located in front of the White House, and was treating and transporting the four patients.

U.S. Park Police officers were also on the scene.

The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area Thursday evening.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Alex Jones ordered to pay Sandy Hook parents more than $4M

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Alex Jones ordered to pay Sandy Hook parents more than M

(NEW YORK) — Alex Jones has been ordered to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to Sandy Hook parents, a jury ordered Thursday.

The conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder was successfully sued by the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre after he claimed that the shooting — where 20 children and six adults were killed — was a hoax, a claim he said he now thinks is “100% real.”

The parents sued Jones for $150 million. A verdict on punitive damages is expected Friday.

A lawyer representing the Sandy Hook families had said in court on Thursday that he intends to hand over two years’ worth of Jones’ text messages to the House committee investigating Jan. 6, after they were inadvertently provided to him by Jones’ lawyers.

“I’ve been asked to turn them over. I certainly intend to do that unless you tell me not to,” Mark Bankston told the judge, saying he’s been asked by the Jan. 6 committee to turn them over.

A source familiar with the matter also told ABC News that the committee and Bankston have been in touch about receiving the messages.

A jury made the determination in Jones’ defamation trial Thursday.

Bankston revealed Wednesday that Jones’ lawyers mistakenly sent him two years’ worth of text messages.

Bankston referenced “intimate messages with Roger Stone” that he said were not “confidential” or “trade secrets.” He said that “various federal agencies and law enforcement” contacted him about the information.

“There has been no protection ever asserted over these documents,” Bankston said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Democrats tee up first vote on climate, tax bill but Sinema still a holdout

August 4, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — All eyes are on Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema as Democrats look to begin debate on their major health care, tax and climate bill this weekend.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Thursday that the chamber is expected to take its first vote on the Inflation Reduction Act on Saturday afternoon. The vote will be on a motion to proceed to the $740 billion bill, which if passed will kickstart up to 20 hours of debate.

Aiming to fast-track the legislation with a process known as reconciliation, under which bills can pass with a simple majority, Democrats need the support of every member of their caucus in the face of expected unanimous Republican opposition.

That’s where Sinema comes in. The moderate Arizona Democrat has occasionally thwarted the party’s agenda, along with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin. Manchin is already on board and has claimed credit for the last-minute agreement on the spending bill.

Sinema has spoken very little about the bill publicly, avoiding repeated questions by reporters on where she stands.

ABC News has learned from two sources familiar with the matter that Sinema is seeking changes to the Inflation Reduction Act, specifically the removal of a provision that would close the so-called “carried interest” loophole that allows wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives to pay lower tax rates on investments.

Sinema is also seeking to add $5 billion in drought resiliency.

Sinema spent Thursday shuttling back and forth from her pale pink-walled office in the basement of the Capitol to the Senate chamber – once meeting with Manchin – and to Sen. Schumer’s office. When asked if she had agreed to any bill changes, the enigmatic senator told ABC, “I can’t tell you anything.“

It’s unclear what impact such changes would have on the outcome of the legislation.

Sinema is also still waiting for word from the Senate Parliamentarian — the chamber’s nonpartisan rule-keeper — who is scrubbing the legislative text to see that each provision meets the strict test of reconciliation.

Manchin told reporters on Tuesday that he and Sinema have discussed the Inflation Reduction Act but didn’t reveal where she may land, stating “she’ll look at all of this and make her own decision.”

Amid Sinema’s silence, a video of her talking to Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and Mitch McConnell went viral this week, though the topic of their conversation is unknown.

McConnell, the Republican leader in the chamber, has sharply criticized the tax provisions in the bill. McConnell on Wednesday accused Democrats of wanting to pass “huge, job-killing tax hikes.”

Democrats have countered that the tax provisions, including a 15% corporate minimum tax, won’t increase taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year — one of President Joe Biden’s key campaign promises — and will target corporations and professionals they say aren’t paying their fair share.

Biden pushed for passage of the law himself on Thursday as he participated virtually in a roundtable with business and labor leaders.

“The Inflation reduction Act lowers prescription drug prices, lowers health insurance premiums, invests in clean energy that will create jobs and economic opportunities for business and labor, reduces the deficit and makes common sense reforms to our corporate tax code,” Biden said.

Biden did speak directly to members of Congress in his remarks, urging them to pass the bill “for the American people.”

+ More