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Indiana Senate hears public testimony on proposed abortion law, protestors gather

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) — The Indiana Senate heard public testimony on a proposed abortion bill Monday, with passionate pleas from both anti-abortion rights and abortion-rights advocates.

Monday’s testimony comes prior to the legislature’s vote on Senate Bill I, which is slated for Tuesday at 1 p.m.

The proposed bill would ban all abortions in the state from the moment of conception, with exceptions for rape, incest, threats to the health of the mother, or due to fatal fetal abnormalities.

The bill would not hold women accountable, criminally, but rather those who perform abortions outside of these exceptions.

While testimony began, abortion-rights protestors could be heard from outside the Statehouse in Indianapolis, where the hearing took place.

Vice President Kamala Harris also came to Indianapolis in preparation for the legislature’s Tuesday vote, meeting with lawmakers to discuss the bill.

Dozens of Indiana residents shared testimony before state senators, calling for changes to the bill, some arguing for more restrictions, and others pleading for less.

On both sides, much of the hourslong testimony pointed to vagueness within the proposed law.

Several doctors testified that they or their colleagues will become fearful of performing abortions and potentially put their patients at risk.

“We want emergency physicians to be able to provide life-saving interventions and treatments consistent with the standard of care without fear of prosecution,” Daniel Elliott, an emergency physician, said during the hearing.

Amy Caldwell, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Indiana, testified to the same sentiment, adding that it’s important for physicians to have safe, private conversations with their patients about their health.

Ariel Ream, an Indiana woman who sought pregnancy through IVF, said she’s fearful of losing that protected relationship with her doctors.

“Who gets to decide when my life is truly at risk?” Ream said during the hearing. “When am I hemorrhaging enough to be able to get care, what doctor is not going to be scared, as we’ve heard today, to not lose their license to give you the care they need?”

Others, including Elizabeth Manring, think the vagueness needs to be addressed in order to create more restrictions.

She asked senators to vote against this bill and instead “close the loopholes large enough to drive a truck through and actually work to stop abortion in Indiana.”

Advocates for abortion and anti-abortion rights both raised questions about the implication of religion within the law.

Several anti-abortion rights advocates referenced the Bible, in favor of a complete ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.

“If the language of the bill isn’t changed, innocent children will die. God’s wrath will continue to be stored up against us and the Republican Party will lose many of its God-fearing constituents,” Seth Leeman said.

Brian Shrank, who said he ministers outside of abortion clinics, referenced a 10-year-old girl who came to Indiana to receive an abortion after becoming pregnant from rape, saying, “God gave that girl life.”

Rabbi Aaron Spiegel argued against the bill for fewer restrictions, saying that the ban from conception is against the beliefs of Judaism and therefore not coherent with the Constitution’s pledge to freedom of religion.

Grey Lesesne, a reverend at an Episcopal Christian church in Indianapolis, said that this bill would harm many of his congregants.

“I’m asking you to give Hoosier women and pregnant people the dignity and respect to make these difficult decisions with their doctors, their families and their communities of faith,” Lesesne said.

Several women came forward to share their experiences with abortion.

One, Danielle Spry, said that she “cannot even fathom the trauma” that having to go through with her pregnancy would have caused her.

Spry said that she was told her daughter would not have been able to survive after birth, due to fatal fetal abnormalities that would not allow her lungs or heart to work properly.

Spry added that she believes women should be able to carry any pregnancy to term, but that she was grateful that she had a choice.

Public testimony will continue for the bill at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, leading up to a 1 p.m. vote on the bill by state senators.

Trial for NYC subway shooting suspect Frank James tentatively set for 2023

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Accused New York City subway shooter Frank James will tentatively stand trial early next year for allegedly opening fire on a Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn in April.

A federal judge in Brooklyn on Monday set a trial date for Feb. 27, 2023, after prosecutors disclosed a vast amount of evidence in the case.

“Videotaped post-arrest statements made by the defendant on or about April 13, 2022,” along with “videos of the defendant collected from YouTube,” will all be part of the case, prosecutors said in a court filing.

The government has collected numerous photos, records and reports and turned them over to James’ defense team.

On April 12, James allegedly shot and wounded 10 commuters before he was caught in the East Village following a manhunt through parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. No one was killed.

James has pleaded not guilty to federal terrorism charges. He was also charged with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

Police said he drove to Brooklyn in a rented U-Haul not too far from the 36 Street station from which he slipped away after the shooting on a train across the platform.

Law enforcement officials set off on a 24-hour manhunt for the suspect right after the shooting. Several callers to the New York Police Department tipline said a man matching the description of the shooter was wandering around the Lower East Side and East Village.

James himself was one of those people police believe called into the tipline. The caller claimed police were looking for him and he’d be waiting at a McDonald’s on Sixth Street and First Avenue. Police responded to the area, and James was arrested without incident shortly afterward.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

ABC News’ Teddy Grant contributed to this report.

The country has a major microchip problem — and the Senate has a $52 billion solution

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The country has a major microchip problem — and the Senate has a billion solution

Allison Pecorin, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — The Senate is aiming this week to bolster the public’s ability to buy an affordable car, microwave or a smartphone as lawmakers push forward legislation to incentivize production of the tiny semiconductor chips that all kinds of technological devices rely upon.

A nationwide shortage of these chips has caused production delays, stalling out industries from automotive to medical and spurring already-punishing inflation rates.

The Biden administration warns there’s no time left to lose: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, briefing lawmakers earlier this month, called passing a bill to incentivize U.S. developments of the semiconductors a “matter of urgency” and said the country was “out of time” to act.

“It’s a matter of national defense. It’s a matter of economic vitality. And it’s time for all of us just do our job and get this over the finish line,” she said.

The Senate agrees. After more than a year of congressional back-and-forth, lawmakers are poised to take action on the so-called CHIPS+ legislation this week. The proposal would provide billions to spur research and development of semiconductors.

Here are answers to a few key questions on the issue that impacts almost every piece of technology you touch.

What is a semiconductor anyway?

A semiconductor, sometimes referred to as a chip or microchip, is only about the size of a dime. But as experts describe it, this tiny piece of tech is a “building block” for a range of everyday devices, from cell phones to cars to air conditioners to smart appliances in kitchens.

The chips, made out of silicon and other mined elements, serve as a kind of brain for machines both handheld and massive. They can be found in trains, planes, iPads and microwaves.

“Semiconductors, or ‘chips’ as we call them, are sort of the building blocks of any computer system,” Morris Cohen, an emeritus professor of manufacturing and logistics in the Operations, Information and Decisions Department at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told ABC News in January.

That means the chips are also the bedrock of dozens of industries, including auto, health care, agriculture, robotics, travel, national security and dozens of others.

But as the chips have become essential in the manufacturing of more and more products, there’s been a shortage of them.

Why is there a shortage? What does it mean for the economy?

A “perfect storm” is how the Department of Commerce described the factors that contributed to the shortage of microchips.

Even before the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, the supply-demand imbalances in the semiconductor industry were fragile, the department noted in a recent report. But the pandemic spurred challenges as more and more people rushed to acquire new technologies for communication that rely heavily on semiconductors. Supply-chain issues and COVID-era factory shutdowns made manufacturing of the chips even more difficult.

In short: Demand for the chips far outpaces the supply.

This comes at a time when the U.S. is producing a smaller percentage of the world’s microchips than ever before. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a lobbying group focused on semiconductor manufacturing, the U.S. now produces 12% of the world’s chips, down from 37% in 1990.

The result of that disparity has been the strained manufacturing of all sorts of products that require these chips. The auto industry has been kneecapped by the shortage, at times temporarily shutting down American plants until more chips could be acquired. The spike in the cost of cars caused one-third of all inflation Americans saw in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What does Congress plan to do about it?

The bill that Senate lawmakers are hoping to advance this week allocates $52 billion to spur domestic research and development of these microchips and grants tax incentives for manufacturing. The aim is to bring more semiconductor production to the U.S., something legislators see as a critical national security component of the bill.

Many other countries, with already cheaper labor costs, have taken strides in recent years to incentivize major chip manufacturers to build plants abroad. Congress hopes with this new funding to make the U.S. a more attractive place for such operations.

But the bill does more than address the chip shortage — and a test vote in the Senate last week proved there was enough support to do even more.

The proposal also includes funding for a few other innovation-based priorities; there are billions for tech startups and the National Science Foundation in the legislation as well. The Senate is scheduled to take another key vote on the bill on Tuesday morning and, if it clears, the package could be on a path for final approval as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

But wait, hasn’t this been in the news for more than a year?

Yes: Addressing the shortage of microchips has been a priority of the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for some time. That’s why the Senate voted to approve funding for microchips over a year ago.

The Senate first passed a massive innovation and competitiveness bill on June 8, 2021. Tucked inside that legislation, along with provisions to bolster the national science apparatus, spur competition with China and address supply chains shortages, was $52 billion for semiconductor research and development.

The House also passed a bill that included this funding but had differences from the Senate bill on some of the other competitiveness factors. Both chambers voted to hold meetings to try to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill, but those negotiations slugged along and later got tied up in political gamesmanship from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who threatened to withdraw GOP support for the process as Democrats soldiered on with a partisan spending bill.

The legislation Senate lawmakers are now considering is a compromise: a less comprehensive version of last year’s competitiveness bill.

When will it pass?

The Senate is expected to pass the CHIPS+ bill sometime this week with relatively broad bipartisan support. Despite some Republican opposition — and objections of “corporate welfare” from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — in its first test vote the bill earned substantial backing from both parties.

Once the Senate passes their legislation, it will head to the House where Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said they will “will act on this bill as soon as it is ready.”

“Addressing the global semiconductor shortage is crucial to tackling inflation and ensuring that America can compete with the rest of the world,” he said in a statement.

The administration is supportive of the legislation and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it if it clears Congress.

ABC News’ Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.

Trump removed lines in post-insurrection speech about prosecuting rioters: Jan. 6 committee

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump did not want to call for the prosecution of Jan. 6 rioters after the Capitol attack, according to a video released Monday by the House select committee investigating the riot.

In a video tweeted by Virginia Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, a member of the panel who led last week’s hearing, the committee showed what appeared to be a draft of Trump’s Jan. 7, 2021, remarks to the country — with several proposed lines crossed out.

The new video cites previously unreleased witness testimony and a copy of a document titled “Remarks on National Healing” that showed Trump was reluctant to give a speech rebuking his supporters who attacked the Capitol and calling for the Justice Department to prosecute them.

“It took more than 24 hours for President Trump to address the nation again after his Rose Garden video on January 6th in which he affectionately told his followers to go home in peace,” Luria wrote in her message posting the video. “There were more things he was unwilling to say.”

The nearly four-minute video includes clips of depositions from Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, discussing how the Jan. 7 remarks came together.

“We felt like it was important to further call for de-escalation,” said Kushner, who like Ivanka Trump was a senior White House aide.

Ivanka Trump told the committee that she could identify her father’s handwriting in the copy of the Jan. 7 speech included in the video while Kushner repeatedly said “I don’t know” when asked why the president had crossed out lines that read “legal consequences must be swift and firm” and “you do not represent me, you do not represent our movement.”

Key Trump aide John McEntee told investigators in his own deposition that he was told by other aides to “nudge” the speech along if President Trump asked his opinion on it — which he took as a sign that Trump didn’t want to deliver the remarks as initially written.

In the speech he eventually delivered at the White House on Jan. 7, Trump accused the rioters of defiling “the seat of American democracy” and said, “You do not represent our country.”

Cassidy Hutchinson, a committee witness who worked as a top aide to Trump’s final chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told the committee that Trump’s advisers pushed him to deliver remarks after the riot both to protect his legacy and to address concerns about how senators might respond if his Cabinet tried to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.

“There was a large concern of the 25th Amendment potentially being invoked, and concerns about what would happen in the Senate,” Hutchinson said in the new video. “So the primary reason that I had heard other than, you know, ‘We did not do enough on the 6th’ … was, ‘Think about what might happen in the final 15 days of your presidency if we don’t do this. There’s already talk about the 25th Amendment. You might need this as cover.'”

Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday’s video from the committee.

He has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong regarding Jan. 6 and has cast the House investigation as politically motivated and one-sided.

Buffalo mayor addresses mass shooting, plans for recovery

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — At a House subcommittee hearing last week on the economic impact of mass shootings on local communities, Mayor of Buffalo, New York, Byron Brown, testified about the aftermath of the shooting at a supermarket in May that killed 10 people and left three injured.

Since the shooting, the city has spent more than $500,000 on “police, fire, sanitation [and] other municipal services,” Brown told ABC News, in addition to the financial impact on businesses, families of the victims and survivors, and other unexpected costs. Last month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $50 million investment earmarked for East Buffalo, where the shooting occurred.

Brown spoke with ABC News about the emotional and financial impact of the shooting in Buffalo, which he says has not received any federal support yet, the reopening of Tops supermarket and how the community has responded in the wake of what law enforcement authorities called racially-motivated violence.

GMA3: Welcome back to GMA3, everybody. Buffalo, New York, Texas, an elementary school there, a Fourth of July parade in Illinois. You know what I’m talking about here. We’re talking about the series of mass shootings we’ve seen. They continue, it seems, in this country, and it profoundly affects the communities in which they occur. And last week, a congressional subcommittee hearing addressed not only the devastating loss of life from these events, but the long-term economic impact these communities often suffer. Want to bring in now somebody who testified at the hearing, Buffalo, New York, Mayor Byron Brown. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for being here. And I know that some numbers we can get into, statistics and whatnot, but I just want to start with you speaking from the heart for a second. Just how is your community doing?

BROWN: You know, it has been very painful for our community. People are in trauma. We are healing, wrapping our arms around each other and doing everything that we can to get through this most painful time in our community.

GMA3: Mr. Mayor, can you tell me, I saw that you spent almost half a million dollars that you didn’t expect to spend in the immediate weeks after the shooting. That just has to do with vital services that were needed, overtime for many of your folks in the community, your police officers, your fire department. Are you getting what you need? I know the federal government often promises and wants to be there to help, but are you getting those types of resources and financial resources that you need in your community right now?

BROWN: We’re having those conversations. We haven’t gotten any financial resources from the federal government at this point. I’ve sent the message that I believe strongly that communities that experienced mass shootings there should be federal financial support; in this case an act of domestic terrorism fueled by racism and white supremacy. The impact has been very devastating to this community financially. May 14, when the shooting occurred and in the two weeks thereafter, the city spent over half a million dollars – police, fire, sanitation, other municipal services. And that price tag has continued to grow ever since.

And so the economic impact is a significant one, not only on the municipality un-budgeted costs, but on the families, on the survivors, on the surrounding community, and on businesses in the community around the Tops supermarket.

GMA3: Mr. Mayor, have you gotten a commitment that that money is coming?

BROWN: The federal government has been very responsive. President Biden has been here in Buffalo. Vice President Harris has been here. The Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has been to Buffalo. We’ve had several meetings in Washington.

And it is my hope that the federal government will step up, will see the pressing need in this community and financially will support the needs of residents, families of victims, survivors of the shooting and the city itself.

GMA3: We talked about [the fact] that the Tops grocery store, the supermarket, was such a vital part of the community. It was one of a few grocery stores that serve so many people in that area. And the subcommittee did hear testimony about property values going down and business activity going down in cities in areas where there have been mass shootings. How has that community begun to recover in that aspect? Is it back to being a place that is bustling? I know the supermarket has reopened.

BROWN: The supermarket reopened July 15. Every day since the supermarket has reopened, the parking lot has been full. A strong message that hate will not win, that the love in the community will conquer hate. People are showing that they want the supermarket to be open, that they need the supermarket and that they’re willing to come back to the supermarket.

Obviously, some people [feel] uncomfortable to come back to that location because of the horrible tragedy. Ten people killed, three wounded. We’ve partnered with a company called Instacart to expand at-home delivery from the supermarket and to expand grocery pick-up at the supermarket. So we are doing everything that we can to not let those alarming statistics of the horrible impacts of mass shootings take hold in the Buffalo community.

As I said, people are rallying around each other. There have been food distributions, concerts, marches, rallies, everything that we can think of to keep the community together and send a message to the nation and to the world that evil will not win, that hate will not win, and that white supremacy will not win.

GMA3: Mr. Mayor, you said two things there that jumped out at me. Keep the community together, and they’ve been rallying around each other. But how can you take this moment and again, when you talk about unity in moments like this, I know you’re tired of hearing it, but Buffalo has historically been for a long time one of the most racially segregated cities in this country. And there are brown and Black communities there that have long suffered. How can you take this moment now and do something? And how can you do something to bridge that divide and division in your community? Because a lot will argue that your community was targeted in the first place because of that segregation. The shooter actually looked up a place where there was a high percentage of African-Americans. It ended up in your community.

BROWN: The shooter attacked Black Buffalo. But many people that we’ve heard from all across the country feel like this was an attack on Black America because the goal of this racist white supremacist shooter was to kill as many Black people as possible. And so this could have occurred anywhere in the country, anywhere in the state where there was a high concentration of Black people.

So we have to focus on defeating white supremacy, making it impossible for white supremacy to proliferate. But our goal now is to build back East Buffalo, the Black community of Buffalo, the city of Buffalo, better and stronger than ever before, to hopefully get resources from the federal government, from our state government.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has already committed over $50 million to East Buffalo. And so we will use those resources and work with the community to invest heavily to make this community better, stronger and more united than it has been previously.

Former Pence chief of staff appeared before grand jury probing Jan. 6: Sources

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence appeared last week before a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Marc Short was caught by an ABC News camera departing D.C. District Court on Friday alongside his attorney, Emmet Flood.

Short appeared under subpoena, sources said.

Short would be the highest-ranking Trump White House official known to have appeared before the grand jury.

Short declined to comment to ABC News. His attorney did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office also declined to comment.

Pope Francis apologizes to Indigenous community in Canada over church’s role in boarding school abuse

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Pope Francis offered a long-sought apology to the Indigenous community in Canada on Monday over the Catholic church’s role in the generational abuse they suffered at Indigenous residential schools for nearly 150 years.

The schools were operated for decades by churches and the federal government of Canada to force assimilation.

“I am here because the first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry,” Francis said. “Sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples.”

“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” he added.

Beginning in the 1800s, thousands of Indigenous children from Canada were taken from their homes and families and placed into so-called residential schools aimed at ridding the children from ties to their Native communities, language and culture. Some of the schools were run by the Catholic church, where missionaries participated in the policies of forced assimilation and abuse.

Upon his arrival in Edmonton, the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta, Pope Francis was greeted on Sunday at the airport by First Nations, Metis and Inuit leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary Simon, who is Canada’s first Indigenous governor general.

Francis met with residential school survivors on Monday near the site of a former residential school in Maskwacis in central Alberta.

Francis said that an apology is only a “starting point” and acknowledged that some in the Indigenous community have called for further action to address the injustice of the boarding school legacy.

“Dear brothers and sisters, many of you and your representatives have stated that begging pardon is not the end of the matter. I fully agree: that is only the first step, the starting point,” Francis said. “An important part of this process will be to conduct a serious investigation into the facts of what took place in the past and to assist the survivors of the residential schools to experience healing from the traumas they suffered.”

Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, who had called for Pope Francis to deliver an in-person apology on behalf of the church, told ABC News’ Marcus Moore that Francis’ visit is “a validation of what has happened with the church and how they’ve hurt and abused our people.”

Ahead of his historic seven-day trip to Canada, Pope Francis asked for prayers to accompany him on what he called a “penitential pilgrimage” and offered an apology to Native communities for the Catholic church’s role in the abuse.

“Unfortunately, in Canada, many Christians, including some members of religious institutions, contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation, that, in the past, gravely damaged, in various ways, the Native communities,” Francis said in a July 17 address delivered from the Apostolic Palace to the public in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, according to The Associated Press.

“For this reason, recently, at the Vatican, I received several groups, representatives of Indigenous peoples, to whom I manifested by sorrow and my solidarity for the evil they have suffered,″ Francis added.

According to a 2015 report released by Canada’s National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, Indigenous residential schools were an integral part of the Canadian government’s “conscious policy of cultural genocide,” where children were disconnected from their families, punished for speaking their Native languages and some faced physical and sexual abuse.

“The Canadian government pursued this policy of cultural genocide because it wished to divest itself of its legal and financial obligations to Aboriginal people and gain control over their land and resources. If every Aboriginal person had been ‘absorbed into the body politic,’ there would be no reserves, no Treaties, and no Aboriginal rights,” according to the report.

Reflecting on the generational trauma that was inflicted on Indigenous communities, Alexis recalled a conversation with a survivor who told him, “The only thing I learned in the residential school was how to hate myself.”

The pope’s visit comes a year after nearly 1,000 sets of human remains were found at the cemetery of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan in western Canada and at the former St. Eugene’s Mission School for Indigenous children in Aqam, a community in British Colombia. It is unclear how many total students died at residential boarding schools and what their causes of death were.

After the graves were discovered in Canada, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — the first Native American to hold a Cabinet position — launched a probe in June 2021 into the U.S. government’s own role in funding Indian boarding schools as part of an effort to dispossess Indigenous people of their land to expand the United States.

The probe’s initial findings were outlined in a May report that found more than 500 American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children died over the course of 150 years in Indigenous boarding schools run by the American government and churches.

Native Nations scholars estimate that almost 40,000 children have died at Indigenous boarding schools. According to the federal report, the Interior Department “expects that continued investigation will reveal the approximate number of Indian children who died at Federal Indian boarding schools to be in the thousands or tens of thousands.”

Haaland, whose grandparents attended Indian boarding schools, now oversees the government agency that historically played a major role in the forced relocation and oppression of Indigenous people and said that her work is a chance to bring some healing to the community.

“I have a great obligation, but I was taught by my mother and my grandfather and my grandmother that when you are asked to do something for your people that you step up,” Haaland told “Nightline” in an interview earlier this year.

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou, Kiara Alfonseca and Tenzin Shakya contributed to this report.

More cities may bring back mask mandates as COVID cases rise

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Cities and counties throughout the United States are considering reinstating mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.

In Los Angeles County, 8,091 new infections were reported on Friday, the latest date for which data is available, according to the Department of Public Health. This is an increase of 50% from the 5,391 cases recorded at the beginning of the month.

Experts have said the increase is due to BA.5, a highly contagious offshoot of the omicron variant that is better at evading immunity — at least partially — from both vaccines and previous infections.

It is currently the dominant strain in the U.S., making up 77.9% of all cases, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. In a region that includes California, Arizona and Nevada, it’s at nearly 80%.

What’s more, the county’s average test positivity rate has remained consistently high, currently sitting at about 16%, said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Currently, the CDC has classified the county as having “high” levels of COVID-19 community transmission. The county must reach a “medium” level by July 28 or an indoor mask mandate will go into effect July 29.

“We are on the cusp of medium and high,” Ferrer said during a media briefing Thursday. “It isn’t going to take much to move us back to medium level if we can get our case numbers to go lower.”

“Should we start seeing a steep decline next week … we are likely to want to take a pause on moving too quickly on indoor masking, universal indoor masking,” she continued.

Ferrer said she understands that “for many this will feel like a step backwards,” but added that mask requirements are one of many “sensible safety precautions” to take when cases jump.

“We are not closing anything down. We are not asking people not to gather with the people they love,” Ferrer said. “We’re asking you to take a sensible step, when there’s this much transmission with a highly transmissible variant, to go ahead and put back on a well-fitting high-filtration mask when you’re indoors around others.”

Meanwhile, in nearby King County — which includes Seattle — officials say they are having “active discussions” about reinstating mask mandates.

In the last seven days, 5,761 cases have been recorded, an 11% decrease from the 6,501 cases recorded in the previous seven days. Hospitalizations recorded in the last seven days have risen 10% from 146 to 161, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County.

The CDC has also placed the county in the “high” transmission category.

During a press briefing earlier this month, Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for the department, said hospitalizations have risen three-fold since April.

“We are actively considering if, and when, additional mandates may be needed,” he said. “And I’m really encouraging everyone now to please, let’s make sure we’ve done all we can on a voluntary basis before we have to go there.”

Woman shot by police after firing handgun inside Dallas Love Field Airport

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(DALLAS) — A 37-year-old woman was shot by police after allegedly firing a handgun inside Dallas Love Field Airport Monday morning, police said.

The shooting took place near a ticket counter and the woman was apparently aiming her gun at the ceiling when she fired, authorities said.

An officer shot the woman in the lower extremities and she was taken to a hospital, Dallas Police Chief Edgardo Garcia told reporters.

No one else in the airport was injured, the chief said.

Police said that “the terminal is secure.”

A ground stop was put in place at the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Story developing…

Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park grows to nearly 17,000 acres

July 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A California wildfire cutting a path of destruction through a tinderbox of vegetation and tough terrain near Yosemite National Park grew overnight to nearly 17,000 acres, state fire officials said Monday.

The Oak Fire burning in Mariposa County, which has prompted the evacuation of more than 6,000 people, went from zero containment on Sunday to 10% containment on Monday as more than 2,000 firefighters battling the blaze made progress overnight, according to Cal Fire.

“Fire activity was not as extreme as it has been in previous days. Firefighters made good headway,” Cal Fire said in an updated incident report released Monday morning.

Despite being challenged by rugged terrain and temperatures ranging from the high 90s to 100 degrees, firefighters managed to save the small community of Mariposa Pines, on the north edge of the fire, according to Cal Fire.

The blaze made a “hard push” Sunday evening in the direction of Mariposa Pines, which has a population of nearly 300 people, according to Cal Fire. Three firefighting strike teams managed to prevent flames from jumping a road and spreading into the Sierra Nevada mountains community, Cal Fire officials said.

Firefighters were also making progress on the east and south sides of the fire, officials said. The northeast side of the blaze, according to Cal Fire, was moving into an area where there are burn scars left by the 2018 Ferguson Fire, which charred nearly 97,000 acres.

Severe drought conditions has left large pockets of dried out vegetation, helping to fuel the quick-moving blaze, fire officials said. The Oak Fire is now the largest fire to erupt in the state this year.

The fire started around 2 p.m. Friday near the Mariposa County town of Midpines, Cal Fire said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County over the weekend and his office announced the state has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help provide resources as it responds to the blaze.

The fire has destroyed or damaged at least 15 structures, according to Cal Fire. A preliminary damage estimate by Cal Fire found that at least seven homes in Mariposa County have been destroyed.

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.

Among the residents who were evacuated were newlyweds Steve and Andrea Ward. The couple returned to their home on Sunday to find it nearly burned to the ground, but took solace in parts of the structure still standing, including a wooden arch in front of their home where they exchanged wedding vows.

“Just to see that space, I honestly thought it was going to be burnt to the ground. I’m surprised it’s still standing,” Andrea Ward told ABC station KFSN-TV in Fresno, California.

The couple said they not only plan to rebuild their home, but vowed to pitch in and rebuild their community. Steve Ward said the devastation has made their bonds with the community and their love for each other stronger.

“If I gotta prioritize keeping her safe versus keeping the house safe, I’m gonna take her,” Steve Ward said of his wife.

Smoke from the Oak Fire is expected to drift into parts of the San Francisco Bay Area nearly 200 miles away and affect air quality, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Smoke from the fire could be seen from International Space Station, officials said. The National Weather Service released a time-lapse smoke forecast map showing smoke blanketing high elevations over the entire Bay Area by Tuesday.

This is the third wildfire to burn in Mariposa County over the past two weeks.

The Washburn Fire, which started on July 7 near the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park, is 87% contained after burning over 4,800 acres. The containment of the fire, which at one point was inching dangerously close to the park’s large sequoia grove, Mariposa Grove, allowed the southern entrance of the park to reopen July 16.

The cause of the Washburn Fire remains under investigation.

The smaller Agua Fire, which started on July 18, is now fully contained after burning some 420 acres. The fire was caused by a car, officials said.

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