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Blue Origin launch live updates: Watch Jeff Bezos’ historic spaceflight

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) —

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is set to blast to the edge of space and spend a few minutes outside Earth’s atmosphere Tuesday on the first crewed flight from his firm Blue Origin.

The milestone launch in the modern commercial space race comes on the 52nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing in 1969, though the space-faring landscape has evolved by giant leaps since then as billionaires emerge as key players driving the new race to the cosmos.

Bezos, who holds the title of the richest man in the world per Bloomberg data, has said the spaceflight will fulfill a lifelong dream and he is also curious how it will “change” him.

Liftoff of the inaugural Blue Origin flight is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET from a rural complex just north of Van Horn, Texas. Here are the latest updates on the flight.

Jul 20, 9:06 am

New Shepard is a ‘go’ for launch

The go poll is now complete, and New Shepard is officially a “go” for launch.

Jul 20, 9:02 am

Launch has been delayed by a few minutes

With the astronauts in the capsule and the hatch closed, there was a temporary pause in launch activities for approximately five minutes while Blue Origin staff did final checks. Launch activities have since resumed, and liftoff is just 11 minutes away.

Jul 20, 8:46 am

The hatch has been closed

The hatch for the New Shepard capsule has officially been closed, and the final checks are now underway ahead of the launch.

The Bezos brothers were seen waving and smiling through the windows of the capsule.

Jul 20, 8:46 am

Crew is buckling in their seats

The crew are now getting in their seats on the capsule and buckling-in ahead of the closing of the hatch. A communications check with each astronaut has also commenced.

Jul 20, 8:38 am

Led by Wally Funk, astronauts climb the crew tower

The astronauts, led by 82-year-old Funk, were seen climbing the tower and preparing to ingress the New Shepard capsule.

The crew arrived atop at the so-called astronaut safety shelter, with approximately 30 minutes to go before launch.

Jul 20, 8:24 am

Crew is en route to the launchpad

The four soon-to-be astronauts were spotted emerging from the astronaut training center around 8:15 a.m. ET and entering vehicles that will take them to the launchpad.

The Bezos brothers, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemon were greeted with cheers from Blue Origin staff as they cruised past mission control on the way to the launchpad. The launch remains on schedule for a 9 a.m. liftoff.

Jul 20, 8:12 am

Meet the history-making crew

The Amazon founder will be accompanied on the historic journey by his brother, Mark Bezos, as well as the oldest and youngest people ever to go to space, Wally Funk, 82-years-old, and Oliver Daemon, 18.

Funk is a trailblazing female pilot who trained to be an astronaut with the so-called “Mercury 13” program during the original U.S.-Soviet space race era but was then told they were only sending men to space at the time. Funk still blazed trails for women in aerospace, becoming the first female Federal Aviation Administration inspector.

Daemon is a Dutch student set to begin classes at Utrecht University this fall, and is the first paying customer for Blue Origin after the initial auction winner backed out. Daemon graduated high school in 2020, and has said he hopes his trip inspires other young people. Blue Origin said the anonymous bidder who paid $28 million won’t make it on Tuesday due to “scheduling conflicts.” The company has not disclosed how much Daemon paid for his seat.

Jul 20, 7:08 am

New Shepard rocket rolled out onto launchpad

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and capsule is now on the launchpad at the company’s “Launch Site One” facility in a remote area in the West Texas desert, about 25 miles north of the small town of Van Horn.

The reusable suborbital rocket system, which launches and lands vertically, was rolled out early Tuesday morning, before its scheduled take-off at 9 a.m. ET.

“The launch team completed vehicle rollout this morning and final preparations are underway,” Blue Origin tweeted at 6:53 a.m. ET.

Jul 20, 5:50 am

Bezos jokes he’s not having his ‘last meal’

Bezos joked with reporters that he did not have his “last meal” before taking off on his space travel company’s first flight with people on board.

As the Amazon and Blue Origin founder served food to members of the press gathered at the remote rocket launch site in the West Texas desert, one reporter jokingly asked: “Is this your last meal?”

“Hey, did somebody say ‘last meal?'” Bezos, wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses, responded to laughter. “I don’t think we should put it that way. Let’s talk about it in a different way.”

Chicken thighs, mac ‘n’ cheese and black-eyed peas were on the menu — a “favorite” recipe by Bezos’ grandmother. He also handed out copies of the recipe.

“Now, if you don’t like this, just keep it to yourself,” Bezos said to more laughter.

Bezos told reporters that he and his three crewmates had finished their training.

“We’re going to have a little refresher early tomorrow morning,” he added. “We have an early wake up tomorrow.”

What is happening and how to watch

Liftoff of the inaugural Blue Origin flight is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET from a rural complex just north of Van Horn, Texas. In total, the flight will be 11 minutes, with approximately three minutes spent above the so-called Karman line that is defined by some as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. After re-entry, the astronauts are set to descend back to Earth in their capsule with a parachute-landing in the west Texas desert.

ABC News will carry live coverage of the event, which will also be streamed on Blue Origin’s website. The live broadcast will begin at 7:30 a.m. ET. Unlike most spaceflights, there are no on-site public viewing areas in the vicinity of the launch site. The newly-minted astronauts are set to have a press conference shortly after landing back on earth.

There is no pilot aboard the fully-autonomous capsule. While Blue Origin’s New Shepard has flown 15 test flights, Tuesday’s will be the first with humans on board.

The definition of “space” has emerged as a heated debate point in the new space race, as Sir Richard Branson took heat for not passing the Karman line (roughly 62 miles above earth) during his Virgin Galactic spaceflight earlier this month. Neither Blue Origin nor Virgin Galactic’s flights will reach Earth’s orbit, however, the way Elon Musk’s SpaceX missions have. Musk, also a billionaire player in the new space race, on Twitter has called out this “big difference.”

While the modern space race has become the arena of the ultra-wealthy at a time when a global pandemic on earth has exacerbated inequities, some argue the rise of private sector involvement has saved NASA money and accelerated technological advances — which in the long-term has the potential to open up space tourism to all who have been curious about the cosmos.

Still, the billionaire daredevils using themselves as guinea pigs for their private space tourism firms have not had the same support astronauts garnered during the original U.S.-Soviet space race. Animosity was exacerbated by reports that Bezos and Musk have avoided income taxes. A Change.org petition calling for Bezos to stay in space has garnered headlines and more than 160,000 signatures.

In an interview with ABC News’ “Good Morning America” just one day ahead of the spaceflight, Bezos said he is curious how briefly leaving Earth will “change” him.

“I don’t know what it’s going to mean for me,” Bezos said. “I don’t know, I’m very curious about what tomorrow is actually going to bring. Everybody who’s been to space says it changes them in some way. And I’m just really excited to figure out how it’s going to change me.”

Man falls to his death while hiking with fiancée’s 9-year-old son above waterfall

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(ROOSEVELT, Utah) — A man has fallen to his death while hiking with his fianceé’s 9-year-old son above a waterfall.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 17, when 40-year-old Adrian Vanderklis of Roosevelt, Utah, was climbing near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon with the 9-year-old son of his fiancée when the boy, who was uninjured, climbed down from where the pair had been hiking on his own to find his mother, according to a statement from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO).

“The woman reported that she could see her son, who was crying, but that she could not see her fiancé, and that she hadn’t seen him for ‘several hours,’” said the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities were subsequently alerted about the missing man and Utah County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers were dispatched to the scene along with a helicopter crew from the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The body of Vanderklis was discovered shortly after at approximately 7:45 p.m. on a “very steep, near vertical, slope about 1/3 of a mile west of Bridal Veil Falls at an elevation of about 5,800 feet,” according to the UCSO.

A team of Search and Rescue volunteers were able to get to Vanderklis and discovered that he did not survive his injuries sustained in the fall but had to call off the recovery operation of his body due to declining light.

“Darkness set in, making a recovery of Mr. Vanderklis’s body extremely dangerous,” said the UCSO. “The operation was called off late Saturday night due to darkness and resumed Sunday morning at 7:00. [Search and Rescue] volunteers were shuttled to the location of Mr. Vanderklis’s body. After securing him and preparing him to be hoisted off the cliff, the DPS helicopter crew returned and brought Mr. Vanderklis off the mountain. His body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy.”

Authorities said it is unclear what caused Vanderklis to fall but they think it is possible that he stumbled or slipped on some loose material where he was hiking. They also confirmed that the boy he was with did not see the accident occur but they believe he was killed immediately as a result of his fall.

“The Utah County Sheriff’s Office extends our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mr. Vanderklis and his fiancée and her family,” said the UCSO.

The investigation into Vaderklis’ death is ongoing.

COVID-19 vaccines protect you better than infection, doctors say

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — With the delta variant surging in the United States, doctors are urging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated — including the more than 30 million people who have already had COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting vaccinated after recovering from infection leads to even stronger protection compared to infection alone. Meanwhile, studies show currently authorized vaccines are likely to offer protection for at least eight months, and likely longer, but much less is known about how long you’ll be protected from reinfection after recovering from COVID-19.

Despite these recommendations, some high-profile political figures have insisted that prior infection is enough, and there’s no need to get a COVID-19 vaccine for those who have already recovered.

Most notably, in June, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) falsely tweeted that vaccination did not provide additional benefit after COVID-19 infection.

Understandably, some Americans, having now recovered from COVID-19, are left conflicted with the mixed messaging and are unsure what to do next.

“For those who have had COVID and are wondering whether or not to get vaccinated, I would absolutely encourage them to do so now to protect themselves and others,” said Dr. Simone Wildes, an infectious disease physician at South Shore Health and an ABC News Medical contributor.

While the benefits of vaccination after infection are well-documented, there are still many Americans who have neither been vaccinated nor infected, and they also have a choice to make.

Not only is getting a vaccine far safer than being infected with the COVID-19 virus, but studies also show that vaccine-induced immunity may be superior to post-infection immunity. In fact, a recent study published in Science Translational Medicine demonstrated that antibodies induced by the vaccine may better combat a wider range of new viral variants when compared to antibodies induced by infection.

“This is particularly important, as now we are seeing an increase in cases due to the delta variant,” Wildes said.

Experts agree that getting vaccinated after recovering from infection is safe — and the best way to protect yourself from COVID-19.

However, there are some important instructions the CDC has released for specific groups. Patients who received monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma should wait for 90 days before vaccination. Children who were diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome should also wait for 90 days after the date of diagnosis.

As the delta variant becomes rampant in unvaccinated communities, and more and more Americans find themselves at a crossroads after infection, experts say it’s crucial for everyone to consider vaccination — even those who were previously infected.

Priscilla Hanudel, M.D., is an emergency medicine physician in Los Angeles and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

Increasing pressure on CDC to revisit guidance on masks in schools

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s top COVID officials are set to testify before Congress on Tuesday as guidance on masks is splintering at the local level — with some cities and medical organizations recommending a return to universal mask wearing, despite federal guidance that vaccinated Americans can go without masks.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief White House medical adviser, said Monday that it was “reasonable” for a leading group of pediatricians to push back against federal guidance that vaccinated Americans can go without masks.

“The CDC always leaves open the flexibility at the part of local agencies, local enterprises, local cities and states to make a judgment call based on the situation on the ground. So, I think that the America Academy of Pediatrics — they’re a thoughtful group, they analyze the situation — and if they feel that is the way to go, I think that is a reasonable thing to do,” Fauci said in an interview with CNN after the AAP’s guidance came out.

The group on Monday called for schools to enforce universal masking mandates because so many children won’t be protected by fall and schools have no way of verifying COVID vaccine status yet. The AAP warned that the honor system has failed to keep many people safe in the face of the delta variant.

“AAP recommends universal masking because a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not vaccinated,” the AAP wrote in it’s Monday statement. “Many schools will not have a system to monitor vaccine status of students, teachers and staff, and some communities overall have low vaccination uptake where the virus may be circulating more prominently.”

People who are fully vaccinated — a term used to describe a person two weeks after their last shot — are still considered safe from serious illness or death, even if they are exposed to the delta variant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 99.5% of hospitalizations are people who weren’t immunized.

Because vaccinated people are considered to be safe, the CDC has said immunized adults and teens can go without a mask, including inside schools.

While CDC Director Rochelle Walensky didn’t directly respond to the AAP’s guidance on Monday, she spoke on a panel that afternoon and urged parents to vaccinate their children — a solution that grants children full protection from the virus but that hasn’t been accepted as eagerly by parents who are nervous to give their kids the vaccine.

“Being vaccinated will allow our kids to safely get back to the things they have missed — in-person school, playing with friends and participating in sports activities,” Walensky said at the panel on Monday.

But Walensky also argued that it could protect kids’ lives.

“Vaccinating our children is more than just a way of getting them safely back at school. It’s a way to save lives,” she said, citing the 489 pediatric deaths from COVID-19 and other risks to children who survive the disease, like longterm symptoms and multisystem inflammatories syndrome, “a rare but serious complication which is affected over 4,000 children in the United States, leading to more than 37 pediatric deaths,” she said.

The public health agency has noted, however, that local officials should still decide to enforce mask mandates if COVID cases climb and vaccination numbers are low. And the CDC said that schools can still embrace universal masking if they can’t verify vaccinations or have large numbers of students too young to qualify.

“In areas where there are low numbers of vaccinated people, where cases are rising, it’s very reasonable for counties to take more mitigation measures,” like the mask rule in Los Angeles, Biden’s surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.

“And I anticipate that will happen in other parts of the country — and that’s not contradictory to the guidance the CDC issued,” he added.

Fauci, too, noted that guidance will have to be tailored to specific groups, whether that’s Los Angeles or school children, because the CDC’s guidance is broad and relies on data that isn’t always immediately available.

“That is an understandable, human reaction to really want to be more safe rather than sorry. And I believe that is the reason why they’re doing that,” he said, speaking about the American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidance for school children.

But Fauci also acknowledged that it created confusion to have different guidance for various settings.

“That does lead to some sort of confusion sometimes when people see an organization making one recommendation, in general, for the whole country, and then local groups, local enterprises, local organizations, in order to get that extra step of safety, say something different. And you’re right, that does indeed cause a bit of confusion,” he said on CNN Monday.

And it’s this approach — allowing states and local communities to decide and essentially putting Americans on the honor system — that’s in question after COVID cases have risen in nearly every state.

Dr. Jerome Adams, who was surgeon general under President Donald Trump, said he made a mistake early on in the pandemic urging people not to mask up because he feared a shortage of masks for health care workers. Adams said he’s afraid the CDC is making another mistake now by not putting more pressure on everyone to wear a mask.

“Instead of vax it OR mask it, the emerging data suggests CDC should be advising to vax it AND mask it in areas with cases and positivity- until we see numbers going back down again,” Adams tweeted.

“CDC was well intended, but the message was misinterpreted, premature, & wrong. Let’s fix it,” he added.

The Biden administration though is in a tough spot. The CDC had been under extraordinary pressure earlier this year to show skeptical Americans the benefits of vaccination, including being able to go without a mask and not having to quarantine after being exposed.

And so far, number studies have shown that all three vaccines – Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna – protect people against all known variants. The vaccines also are shown to provide more durable protection than a natural infection.

Also, any federal mandate for vaccines or masks would no doubt trigger a swift backlash among conservatives.

Responding to the former surgeon general calling on CDC to bring back masks, conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted: “No. No. No. Hell no.”

For his part, President Joe Biden has suggested in recent remarks that he’s worried about the science of the vaccinations and masks, only the people who were choosing to ignore it.

“Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated,” said Biden Friday.

And in a speech on Monday, he said, “Virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated Americans. These tragedies are avoidable. … If you’re unvaccinated, you are not protected.”

6 people hospitalized after house explodes in Plano, Texas: Officials

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(PLANO, Texas) — Six people were rushed to a hospital on Monday after a house exploded in a Dallas suburb, officials said.

The explosion occurred at around 4:40 p.m. local time in a residential neighborhood of Plano, Texas, about 20 miles north of downtown Dallas. The blast was felt up to a mile away by residents as well as staff at a public library, and homes across the street from the exploded house had windows blown out, according to Plano Fire-Rescue.

One resident was inside the home that exploded and was transported to a local hospital for their injuries. Five people who live in the house next door were also injured and taken to the hospital. Three of the wounded were admitted to a children’s hospital, Plano Fire-Rescue said.

One person who lives in the home on the other side of the exploded house was not injured by the blast, according to Plano Fire-Rescue.

In addition to investigators from Plano Fire-Rescue, representatives from Atmos Energy and Oncor Electric along with the Plano Police Department’s bomb squad were all on scene trying to determine the cause of the explosion. The scene was later turned over to the Plano fire marshal and his investigators, with Atmos Energy remaining on site but all other agencies departing.

“At this point, they do not know the cause and do not want to speculate,” Plano Fire-Rescue said in a statement on Monday night.

Electricity and gas was shut off for the entire block until about 9:30 p.m. local time, when Atmos Energy and Oncor Electric determined it was safe to reinstate power and gas except for the exploded house and the two next door, according to Plano Fire-Rescue.

Plano Mayor John Muns said investigators were “working diligently to determine the cause of the blast.”

“We are saddened by today’s tragedy of a house explosion in our city,” Muns said in a statement on Monday evening. “Several of our residents were injured. We are keeping them and their families close to our hearts and hoping for a swift and full recovery.”

Thrift shop provides trans, nonbinary people with clothing, community

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) — Margie’s Closet opened on June 5 to help transgender, non-binary and gender-expansive people buy clothing at an affordable cost.

Located in Ohio, Margie’s Closet is the first thrift shop in the state designed to help the transgender community by offering clothing and emotional support. The store, founded by the organization Margie’s Hope, sells an extensive list of clothing, from chest binders for transgender men to $5 pairs of jeans.

Jacob Nash, co-founder of Margie’s Hope and Margie’s Closet, told “Good Morning America” that he came up with the idea for the store after listening to questions from individuals in the transgender community.

“There was some conversation, first through a friend of mine who … had some clothes that she wanted to donate to folks in the trans community, and wanted to know if I knew of any place that served the trans community specifically,” Nash said. “Then, at the support group that Margie’s Hope has [Trans Ally] … a lot of people talked about shopping online because they felt uncomfortable in the stores … and then they end up sending a lot back.”

As a response to these conversations, he opened a pop-up event where people donated clothing for transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive individuals. This event was extremely popular, Nash said, which inspired him to open up a store to sell this donated clothing.

“By the time we were done, we had so many clothes. We were like, ‘OK, so we obviously have a need here. What are we going to do?’” Nash said.

His dream became a reality when he discovered a space called Studio West 117, which was specifically created for the LGBTQ+ community, on the border between Lakewood and Cleveland that he found ideal to house the store.

“We toured the facility and realized that this would be perfect because we wanted to be able to provide folks within the transgender and nonbinary and gender-expansive community a space that they felt comfortable in [and] that they could get there everything [they] need[ed],” Nash said.

About six weeks after leasing the space, the store opened, just in time for Pride Month. So far, the turnout has been “phenomenal,” Nash said.

“We’ve had people coming in and purchasing items that are from the community, but also people that are supportive of the trans community that are coming in and saying, ‘We are coming here to shop because we want to support the community, the trans community, the nonbinary community,” Nash said. “It’s not just folks from the LGBTQ community that are coming in and shopping, or even donating, but it’s the whole community of Northeast Ohio.”

Monika Veliz, the executive manager of Margie’s Closet, agrees that the turnout has been “more than [they] could have hoped for.” She believes that the large numbers of people coming to the store can be contributed to local support and advertising.

“We realized that we can’t do this by ourselves, and the community realized that we can’t do this by ourselves, so everyone’s been really helpful,” Veliz said. “Surrounding businesses have been more than generous with welcoming us to the neighborhood. We’ve had, because of social media, and different platforms … people drive as far as from Cincinnati to Cleveland, from Bowling Green to Cleveland just to get to the store.”

This support is meaningful to Nash, but not because of the money made, making Margie’s Closet different from a typical business. In fact, the store offers opportunities for those who cannot afford the clothing to have access to $25 vouchers through community organizations or to ask for help from the store upfront. This is because Nash wants Margie’s Closet to care more about the people it helps than making a profit.

“We are trying, as our slogan goes, ‘building community one piece of clothing at a time,’ because it’s not about the clothing as much as it is building community, building family, building relationships and serving the population that is most needed,” Nash said. “If that means we give away product, then we give away product because it’s more about the people than it is about the money.”

When Veliz started working at the store, she did not realize this unique aspect of the store – that was, until she had a meaningful interaction with a transgender woman customer.

“She knew absolutely very little about women’s clothing, about her body type, her body shape, and she came into the store as we were closing. We actually stayed open an extra hour just for her so that I could help her pick up clothes and measure her and all that good stuff,” Veliz said.

“Up until that point, I thought it was just a business, if that makes sense…, but then I realized the importance we play in trans and nonbinary people who walk through our door,” Veliz added. “They’re looking for direction, they’re looking for… connection [and] community. That was the defining moment of what the store actually was for me.”

Baby comes home after 136 days in the NICU

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(EL PASO, Texas) — Abigail and Dominic Miramontez are thrilled to bring their son Austin home after 136 days in the NICU at an El Paso hospital.

Abigail Miramontez was 24 weeks pregnant and throwing a birthday party for her father when she felt was described as a “push” while making her dad’s cake. She quickly realized she needed to go to the hospital and found out when she got there that she was in labor.

“It was very scary,” Abigail Miramontez said. “I felt like it wasn’t real until he was born.”

Austin was born at just 2 pounds and 2 ounces. The couple was told their son would need to stay into the NICU at least until his original birth date to make sure he was healthy enough to go home with them.

At 2 weeks old, Austin had to undergo a procedure on his small intestines. From there, he was nursed to health by NICU doctors and nurses who Abigail Miramontez said she grew close to over the months of Austin’s stay.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Abigail Miramontez and Dominic Miramontez were not allowed to see their son in the NICU together — only one person could enter the room at a time. Abigail Miramontez said she drove to visit her son every day, while Dominic Miramontez, who is a truck driver, would come every chance he could when he was not working.

On July 13, 2021, the parents were finally able to take their son home after spending 136 in the NICU. Austin left the NICU weighing 9 pounds and 9 ounces.

“I was excited,” Miramontez said. “It’s actually been so much fun just having him here and being able to dress him up. When he was in the NICU, they wouldn’t even let us put clothes on him because of COVID.”

Miramontez said they’ve been able to introduce Austin to their family members safely and from a distance and that she’s excited that her son is finally home.

Justice Department has ‘concerns’ about Purdue Pharma bankruptcy exit plan

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department said Monday it has “fundamental concerns” with Purdue Pharma’s plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Purdue filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2019 as it faced thousands of lawsuits across the country over its aggressive marketing of OxyContin and other opioid products.

While the department said it supports Purdue Pharma’s proposed business model of becoming a public benefit corporation and welcomes the distribution of more than $4 billion to states for opioids mitigation, it opposes shielding the heirs of founders Raymond and Mortimer Sackler from additional opioids-related litigation since they themselves are not going through bankruptcy.

“The proposed shareholder release violates due process principles,” the Justice Department statement, filed with the bankruptcy court in White Plains, New York, said.

“To be sure, many individual creditors in the Purdue bankruptcy have agreed to give this release in exchange for the payments and other benefits they will receive under the plan, and presumably find this to be a fair deal. But many others, including states who have voted against or objected to the plan, have not agreed.”

Also on Monday, the United States trustee, who supervises bankruptcy cases for the Department of Justice, took the more formal step of objecting to the plan, which requires Sackler family members to pay over $4 billion in cash and assets, but does not require any admission of wrongdoing.

U.S. Trustee William K. Harrington cited the “extraordinarily broad release of the Sackler family” from any liability for the nation’s opioids epidemic as a reason for his objection.

“The plan provides that some members of the Sackler family will ‘contribute’ more than $4.3 billion to fund opioid abatement and compensation trusts established under the plan,” Harrington said in the court filing. “But there is a catch: Payment is conditioned on every member of the Sackler family and associated parties — which total hundreds, if not thousands — receiving a release from all liability from all persons, even if they are not creditors or parties in interest, for the Sackler family’s alleged wrongdoing in concocting and perpetuating for profit one of the most severe public health crises ever experienced in the United States.”

“Although styled as a third-party release, it is nothing less than an illegal, court-ordered discharge of a potentially limitless group of non-debtors,” the trustee wrote.

The Justice Department has, in other cases, formally objected to releasing third parties who are not going through the bankruptcy process themselves from legal liability.

In a letter last month, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to formally object to Purdue’s plan.

“Allowing the Sacklers to obtain legal immunity through Purdue’s bankruptcy would be a tragic miscarriage of justice,” Maloney said. “While the settlement will provide much-needed transparency about the Sacklers’ central role in creating, fueling, and profiting from America’s opioid epidemic, we remain troubled that the Sacklers are poised to escape accountability yet again.”

Purdue Pharma’s reorganization plan “has the potential to improve public health by speeding resources to communities and individuals affected by the opioid crisis,” Steve Miller, chairman of Purdue’s board of directors, said in a statement earlier this year. “That is what we have been working toward since the 2019 bankruptcy filing.”

The company last year pleaded guilty to three felonies — one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback statute — as part of a settlement with the Justice Department.

A hearing to finalize Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy exit plan is scheduled for Aug. 9.

ABC News’ Celia Darrough contributed to this report.

Dad shares warning after kids allegedly contract COVID-19 from unvaccinated relative

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(PHILADELPHIA) — A Philadelphia father of two is speaking out about the ongoing risk of COVID-19 for children after his son and daughter tested positive for the virus.

Adam Joseph, a meteorologist for ABC station WPVI, said his 6-year-old son Jacob and 5-year-old daughter Hannah tested positive for COVID-19 after having contact with a relative who was not vaccinated against the virus.

Joseph said the relative tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the visit with his family, but later tested positive for the virus.

In addition to his children, their nanny also contracted COVID-19, according to Joseph.

He and his husband, Karl, are both vaccinated and have so far both tested negative for COVID-19.

“We kind of feel like we failed as parents, to a degree, after protecting our children for nearly a year-and-a-half from this, and were doing so well,” Joseph said in a Facebook video.

Children under the age of 12 are currently not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for use in children ages 12 to 15 in May by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The two other COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are currently available only for people 18 years and older in the U.S.

Joseph’s warning to parents about protecting young children from people who are not vaccinated comes as top health officials warn that COVID-19 has become a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” in the U.S.

In addition to data showing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are predominantly among unvaccinated people, the more transmissible delta variant is driving up COVID-19 cases.

In light of the delta variant, health experts are pushing back on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May that fully vaccinated Americans can go without masks.

The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday called for schools to enforce universal masking mandates because so many children won’t be protected by fall and schools have no way of verifying COVID vaccine status yet.

People who are not vaccinated, including children between the ages of 2 and 11, should continue to wear face masks in indoor public places and practice social distancing and hand washing, according to the CDC.

Joseph’s children experienced symptoms including a fever, chills and coughing, but are now improving. The children’s nanny and relative are experiencing additional COVID-19 complications, according to Joseph.

“Please, if you are not vaccinated, do not go around children who are under 12, they are so vulnerable right now,” Joseph said on Facebook. “They do not have a choice to get the vaccine at this point.”

“We need to protect our children, and make sure they stay healthy because this delta variant is affecting kids. This new delta variant is affecting vaccinated people as well,” he said. “It’s everyone’s choice, we’re all adults, whether we want to get vaccinated or not. I’m not here to push that. I’m just asking you, begging you, if you’re not vaccinated, to wear a mask wherever you go in public, even though it’s not mandatory.”

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Soon-to-be youngest American in space shares how surviving cancer helped prepare her for mission

July 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Hayley Arceneaux’s dreams of becoming an astronaut were crushed after being diagnosed with pediatric bone cancer at 10 years old, but now she’s set to go to space in the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth.

Now, the 29-year-old St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital physician assistant is set to make history as the youngest American, first pediatric cancer survivor, and person with a prosthesis to go to space as one of the crew members in SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission.

The four-person mission will launch in September in a SpaceX rocket commanded by entrepreneur and part-time pilot Jared Isaacman.

Isaacman donated two seats to the hospital: One for Arceneaux and another that is being raffled to the public as part of a $200 million fundraiser for the hospital.

Arceneaux shared how her battle with cancer as a child prepared her for the mission into orbit and her excitement for the experience ahead.

Arceneaux told co-host Sunny Hostin that she’s “been so excited” and “so ready” for the space mission.

“I’m going to be the youngest American to go to space, but also what I’m really excited about is that I’m going to be the first pediatric cancer survivor to go to space, and the first person with an internal prosthesis,” she said.

During her one-year treatment at St. Jude for bone cancer, Arceneaux had to get surgery to replace her knee and had a metal rod put in her left thigh bone to save her leg.

“I’m really excited to show all these kids going through cancer treatment what they can do too,” Arceneaux said.

Arceneaux’s family trip to NASA’s headquarters when she was 10 years old inspired her to become an astronaut, but she said her hopes came to a halt after being diagnosed with bone cancer just a few months later.

Looking back on when the doctors told her she had cancer, Arceneaux recalled bursting into tears. “I kept saying, ‘I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die,’ because at age 10, everyone I had known with cancer had passed away.”

She added that it wasn’t until she was “walking into the doors of St. Jude’s” that she felt hope for survival.

“That year that I spent going through cancer treatment at St. Jude was actually the most important year of my life,” Arceneaux said. “It definitely made me who I am, and made me tough because of it, and I think in a way it prepared me to go to space.”

While Arceneaux beat cancer, she thought that going to space was a wish she’d never be able to fulfill. That is, until she received an “out of the blue” phone call in January from St. Jude.

“I was absolutely shocked when they asked if I wanted to go with them to space,” she said. “Immediately, I said yes, and then thought for a second. I was like, ‘Well let me check with my mom.'”

“Getting to be this first all-civilian mission to space, and what this means for everyone coming after us, it’s incredibly exciting to be part of,” she said.

Arceneaux, who’s currently an astronaut-in-training and will become a certified commercial astronaut after completing her mission, will be orbiting Earth for three to four days.

During her training, she said she’s learned the ins and outs of SpaceX’s spacecraft as well as centrifuge training and hypoxia training. Next week, the crew will learn about water survival.

Since Arceneaux is a physician assistant, she’s the designated medical officer on the mission and goes through additional training.

While they are in orbit, “going deeper, higher into space” than any space crew has in 15 years, Arceneaux and the crew will do research on the radiation profile that is seen in that level of space.

“We’re gonna be doing some cognition tests while we’re up there, taking some blood and all kinds of samples to learn any radiation exposure effects, and also testing the microbiome as we’re in this close capsule, all of us breathing the same air, seeing really what the bacteria does on our skin,” she said on “The View.”

On July 11, billionaire Sir Richard Branson flew to the lower edge of space and back to planet Earth in the first fully crewed flight from his private space tourism firm Virgin Galactic. Another billionaire, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is set to launch to the edge of space on Tuesday with the first crewed flight from his private space-faring firm Blue Origin.

Arceneaux weighed in on the billionaires blasting off into space.

“It’s so exciting that more and more people are getting to experience space,” Arceneaux said, adding that her Inspiration4 mission crew was together to watch Branson and plan to be together again to watch Bezos.

“How our mission is different is we’re going to be orbiting, and spending three days in space, participating in research and going through some really extensive training to get us there,” she continued.

“Until my mission, I could have never been a NASA astronaut with the rod that I have in my leg,” Arceneaux said. “Now that space travel is being opened up, you no longer have to be physically perfect to go to space.”

Every episode of ABC’s award-winning talk show “The View” is now available as a podcast! Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher or the ABC News app.

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