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COVID-19 live updates: Five more states to soon end indoor mask mandates

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 911,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.2% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-Fauci says we’re heading out of the ‘full blown pandemic phase’
-US hospitalizations at lowest point since early January
-New York lifts indoor mask mandate effective Thursday
-Massachusetts lifts statewide school mask mandate

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Feb 09, 6:10 pm
Washington state to lift mask mandates

Washington became the latest state Wednesday to announce it will be easing mask requirements.

Gov. Jay Inslee said the state’s outdoor mask mandate will be lifted on Feb. 18, and he will provide a date next week on when the indoor mask mandate will end.

The state health department has required that everyone ages 5 and older wear a mask at indoor public settings, as well as at outdoor events with 500 or more attendees, regardless of vaccination status.

The announcement comes as COVID-19 cases have been declining rapidly in the state.

Feb 09, 4:56 pm
Fauci says we’re heading out of the ‘full blown pandemic phase’

Dr. Anthony told the Financial Times that the U.S. is “heading out of” the “full-blown pandemic phase” and that he hopes masks and other measures can be dropped entirely in the coming months.

“As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of COVID-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated,” Fauci said. “There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.”

“There is no way we are going to eradicate this virus,” Fauci cautioned. “But I hope we are looking at a time when we have enough people vaccinated and enough people with protection from previous infection that the COVID restrictions will soon be a thing of the past.”

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Feb 09, 4:07 pm
Illinois looks to end indoor mask mandate

Illinois plans to lift its indoor mask mandate at the end of month, Gov. JB Pritzker said, citing “hospitalization rates declining faster than any other point in the pandemic.”

“If these trends continue — and we expect them to — then on Monday, Feb. 28, we will lift the indoor mask requirement,” he said Wednesday.

Masks will continue in Illinois schools “subject to pending litigation which impacts a number of schools,” the governor’s office said. “As the CDC reaffirmed just today, masks remain a critical tool to keep schools safe and open.”

The governors of New York and Rhode Island also announced an end to their indoor mask mandates on Wednesday.

Feb 09, 2:01 pm
Rhode Island lifting indoor mask mandate

Rhode Island will lift the statewide indoor mask policy on Friday, Gov. Dan McKee announced.

Rhode Island’s school mask mandate will be extended until March. 4. At that time, school masking policies will be decided by individual school districts.

This comes hours after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said New York’s indoor mask mandate will end on Thursday.

Ukraine, Russia to hold key talks on crisis in Berlin

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(KYIV, Ukraine) — A new round of key talks aimed at de-escalating the Ukraine crisis are set to take place in Berlin on Thursday.

The talks will follow the so-called Normandy Format, the name of the long-running negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by France and Germany, and are aimed at ending the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east.

The talks have been largely deadlocked since 2015, but Thursday’s meeting is being closely watched for signs that a flurry of diplomatic activity this week, spear-headed by French President Emmanuel Macron, might point toward a broader de-escalation of the growing crisis.

Macron visited Kyiv Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following marathon talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that resulted in a glimmer of hope that Putin may be open to taking Western offers of diplomacy to end the crisis.

Macron has said Putin assured him there would be no escalation around Ukraine, and French officials have since said they believe the visit has achieved a “pause” that allows de-escalation and gives more time for negotiations.

With Russia continuing to move troops close to Ukraine, where it has already massed over 100,000, the hope expressed by Macron and Zelenskyy is that Thursday’s talks can widen that diplomatic path and help bring down tensions. In Kyiv, both leaders spoke optimistically about Thursday’s talks, saying they expected progress.

The talks will be held between Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Zelenskyy’s top aide Andriy Yermak, and Dmitry Kozak, a deputy chief of staff to Putin. No breakthrough or even substantial progress is expected, but Western countries and Ukraine are pushing to reinvigorate the format to try to get Russia to engage or at least keep diplomacy going for now. Macron has said the talks should provide a “clarification” of what’s possible.

Macron has said making progress in the Ukraine talks should be combined with the launching of a separate dialogue with Russia on European security to address Kremlin concerns about NATO. It is still not clear if Macron’s initiative means the Kremlin is ready to take a diplomatic exit. But it’s hoped some positive steps at the talks could reduce the risk of military escalation.

“Unless Russia is serious about de-escalation, I think buying time is all we can hope for,” a former adviser to Zelenskyy told ABC News.

Russia’s buildup has already reinvigorated the talks — a round held in Paris two weeks ago was the first in two years and ended with the sides recommitting to a much-violated ceasefire.

The Normandy talks are intended to negotiate the fulfillment of the so-called Minsk agreement, a peace deal that ended large-scale fighting in 2015, but which has been effectively stillborn since. The deal envisages Ukraine regaining control over the eastern separatist Donbas regions in return for granting them broad autonomy in its constitution.

The talks have been deadlocked because Russia and Ukraine disagree over the order the agreement should be fulfilled. Russia demands that Ukraine first change its constitution to give the Russian-occupied regions special autonomous status and hold elections in them before it regains any control there. Ukraine says the separatists must disarm and Russian forces there leave before any elections to decide the regions’ statuses can be held.

Russia has pushed for Ukraine to reintegrate the separatist regions because it would give it a lever in Ukraine’s government, and a de facto veto on Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. For that reason, accepting the Minsk agreement on Russia’s terms has become politically impossible for any Ukrainian government, which would face huge backlash at home.

Most experts believe Russia is massing troops near Ukraine in part to try to force Kyiv into moving toward Moscow’s interpretation of the Minsk agreement.

But Ukraine’s government has feared that in the face of the Russian military threat, Western countries might force it to make concessions.

In Ukraine, there was media speculation Wednesday that Macron may have pressured Zelenskyy to make concessions in Thursday’s talks, in particular to begin direct negotiations with the Russian-controlled separatists, the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DNR and LNR).

If true, that would be politically explosive in Ukraine and would mean Macron had pushed Zelenskyy into a major concession.

But Ukraine’s foreign minister on Wednesday bluntly denied it would ever hold direct negotiations with the separatists.

The minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said France understands Ukraine’s “red lines and do not demand to implement things that are not acceptable to Ukraine.”

Kyiv refuses to negotiate with the separatist because it sees them as puppet governments controlled by Russia. Talking to the rebels directly would accord them recognition and also legitimize the Kremlin’s false claim that the conflict in Ukraine is a civil war, in which Russia is not involved.

Macron’s office also denied it had pressured Ukraine. French officials said Thursday’s talks would focus on how Ukraine can move toward introducing a draft law granting special status for the separatist areas and get comments on it from the separatists as an exception set out by the Minsk agreements.

“We are basically preparing to be able to put on the table all the practical options which will ultimately have to receive the approval not only of the Ukrainians, but of the Russians,” the officials said.

Oleksiy Semeniy, a former adviser to Ukraine’s national security council and currently director of the Institute for Global Transformations in Kyiv, told ABC News on Wednesday he did not believe it was politically possible for Zelenskyy to start direct negotiations with the separatists.

He said an important sign of success would be if it was announced following the talks that a leader’s summit, involving Zelenskyy and Putin, would take place.

Man accused of raping woman on United flight

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A man was arrested after he was accused of raping a woman on a United flight.

Police at London’s Heathrow Airport were alerted to “an incident” on an inbound trans-Atlantic flight from Newark, New Jersey, on the morning of Jan. 31.

“Officers met the aircraft on arrival and arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of rape,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement to ABC News. “He has been released under investigation.”

The woman is “being supported by specialist offers and enquiries are ongoing,” officials explained.

United Airlines said their crew “called ahead and notified the local authorities as soon as they became aware of these allegations” adding they “will cooperate with law enforcement on any investigation.”

Both individuals were sitting in the business class cabin and other passengers were sleeping when the alleged rape occurred, according to the Sun.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Mike Trew contributed to this report.

Public employees in Puerto Rico protest over wages as frustration with governor grows

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Thousands of public employees from across Puerto Rico took to the streets Wednesday to demand higher salaries and better pensions.

The demonstration followed a protest by teachers on Friday demanding a temporary increase of $1,000 per month for public educators. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced this week that funds from the U.S. Department of Education would be used to provide the wage boost.

But at a press conference Monday, Pierluisi raised eyebrows when he said being a teacher, firefighter or any other public employee was not an obligation.

“No one here is forced to be a police officer or a firefighter, but those who decide towards that calling will have to assume that huge responsibility and if for any reason they question if they should continue to do so amid the salary or work conditions, they are not obligated to remain in their role,” said Pierluisi.

The comment caused outrage among many public employees and other residents on the island.

“It’s disrespectful,” Spanish teacher Leny Colón told ABC News. Colón traveled to the protest from Coamo, located about 60 miles away from San Juan. She said she attended the protest because she is a teacher, but also supports other public employees.

“We are here because we have a calling but this calling shouldn’t be punished… this is a community fight,” Colón said.

For Carlos Torres, a teacher from San Juan, the government’s comments were “insensible”.

“If we wouldn’t have pressured him and we wouldn’t have marched Friday he wouldn’t have done anything,” Torres told ABC News, referring to a new temporary salary increase that goes into effect on July 1.

“Our team has made the necessary calculations and has consulted the federal government, and we’ve been able to identify ESSER funds to provide incentives for teachers,” Pierluisi announced in a press release Feb. 7.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) is part of the Education Stabilization budget. Congress allocated $13.2 billion from the $30.7 billion to address the COVID-19 impact on schools across the nation.

Although the raise was praised by many, the wave of negative response from Puerto Ricans in response to the governor’s other comments keeps growing — and the leader says he has nothing to apologize for.

“Apologize for what? I did a lot of comments in solidarity with all the claims being made by the people,” Pierluisi said at a press conference on Tuesday.

As for the dispute over salaries, work conditions and retirement plans, many public employees say they will not stop fighting until they see a change.

“Education, safety and health is very important,” Colón said. “It’s time to make justice for all Puerto Ricans.”

South Carolina officer charged in fatal shooting following high-speed chase, authorities say

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A South Carolina police officer has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after fatally shooting an unarmed man who led her on a high-speed pursuit, authorities said.

The incident began early Sunday, when Hemingway Police Officer Cassandra Dollard, 52, attempted to pull over 46-year-old Robert Langley for “disregarding a stop sign” in Williamsburg County at 1:24 a.m., according to an arrest warrant.

Langley “failed to stop” and a chase ensued, according to the warrant. After allegedly traveling over 100 mph, Langley crashed his car into a ditch in neighboring Georgetown County at around 1:30 a.m., according to the warrant.

Langley attempted to exit the car through the front passenger door and Dollard fired her gun once, striking him in the chest, according to the warrant.

Dollard reportedly told investigators she fired her gun because she was “in fear for her safety,” according to the warrant.

“Dollard stated she did not identify a weapon in Langley’s hands, nor was a weapon recovered at the scene,” South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Special Agent Ashley Jolda said in the arrest warrant affidavit, which noted that Dollard had no authority to arrest Langley outside of Williamsburg County.

Langley was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries, authorities said. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning, the Georgetown County Coroner’s Office said.

Dollard was arrested Wednesday afternoon by SLED agents and booked into the Georgetown County Detention Center. Her bond hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, according to Charleston, South Carolina, ABC affiliate WCIV. It is unclear if she has an attorney.

SLED agents are seeking to conduct interviews with potential witnesses and are collecting evidence as part of their investigation into the shooting, the agency said.

The Hemingway Police Department said following the shooting that it is in “full cooperation with SLED” during the investigation and referred all questions to the agency.

SLED said it is not releasing any additional information on the case at this time.

An attorney for Langley’s family said prosecutors showed them dashcam video of the deadly encounter Wednesday morning.

“We do know that Robert Langley should be alive today,” attorney Bakari Sellers said during a press conference held hours before Dollard’s arrest. “We do know that he was taken from us in a cruel fashion, in an unjust fashion.”

Langley, a father of 10 and a new grandfather, “posed no threat” to the officer, according to Sellers.

“I don’t know if she was having a bad day or what, but murder should not have been on the menu,” Sellers said.

Used car prices at record high, chip shortage and high demand to blame

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Looking to buy a used car? Consumers can expect high costs and low inventories at the dealership lot.

Listing prices for used cars in January were up 40% from the same time last year, according to Carfax. The company said the average listing for a used car is currently $28,000 – a record high.

“Historically you’d think of that as the cost of a new car,” Emilie Voss, director of public relations at Carfax, told ABC News. “We’ve never seen a number like that for average price for a used car nationally.”

According to Edmunds, the price is even higher: its data showed the average price of a used car is currently $29,594, up 30% from the year prior.

The ongoing global microchip shortage is to blame for rising costs. Manufacturers cannot acquire enough chips to keep production lines running and the demand for used cars is high.

“We’re seeing record prices and part of that is a severe lack of used car inventory,” Voss said. “What we hear about with the car chip shortage impacting production, which is trickling down to used cars.”

For consumers who can afford high costs, you’ll have to act fast. Experts at Cars.com said vehicles are moving off dealer lots within a week, when pre-pandemic it could take 30-60 days before they sold.

Once you arrive to a dealership, experts say it’s important to keep an open mind. Consumers may have to compromise on their wish lists and expand their search when looking for a used car.

“Say you want a 2019 white Ford Edge. You’re going to have a harder time finding that specific vehicle than if you were to broaden your search and say I’m open to just really any midsize SUV,” Voss said.

Consumers though might see some relief later in the year.

“There are headwinds right now — new car supply is projected to get better in the second half of the year and consumer demand has slowed recently due to the recent COVID spike and high used car prices,” Voss said.

While the market is competitive, Voss said consumers can still negotiate on price.

“Use the vehicle history if price is an issue for you,” he said. “A vehicle history report you can tell if a vehicle is well maintained [or] if an accident was minor or severe.”

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

Juror dismissed in federal trial of former cops involved in George Floyd’s death

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A juror was dismissed Wednesday in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights during the 2020 fatal arrest.

The juror was let go after informing the court he is coping with mental health issues going on with his son.

The panelist — a maintenance and facilities manager and Army veteran — was replaced by one of six alternate jurors. The replacement juror is a man who works at a data company and has two children.

The trial in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, began on Jan. 24 with opening statements. The prosecution is nearing the end of presenting its evidence in the case against J. Alexander Kueng, 28, Thomas Lane, 38, and Tou Thao, 35.

All three are charged with using the “color of the law,” or their positions as police officers, to deprive Floyd of his civil rights by allegedly showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs when their senior officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on the back of the handcuffed man’s neck for more than nine minutes, ultimately killing him.

Kueng and Thao both face an additional charge alleging they knew Chauvin was kneeling on Floyd’s neck but did nothing to stop him. Lane, who appeared to express concern for Floyd’s well-being during the encounter, does not face the additional charge.

They have all pleaded not guilty.

Chauvin was convicted in Minnesota state court in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.

Chauvin, 45, also pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges stemming from Floyd’s death and the abuse of a 14-year-old boy he bashed in the head with a flashlight in 2017. He admitted in the signed plea agreement with federal prosecutors that he knelt on the back of Floyd’s neck even as Floyd complained he could not breathe, fell unconscious and lost a pulse.

ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd contributed to this report.

Former White House press aide appears before Jan. 6 committee

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Sarah Matthews, a Trump White House press aide who resigned over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, appeared Tuesday for an interview with the House select committee investigating the attack, sources familiar with her appearance told ABC News.

Matthews, who declined to comment, appeared before the committee voluntarily, a source told ABC News. She is one of several former Trump aides approached by the committee who now work as GOP congressional staffers.

“I was honored to serve in the Trump administration and proud of the policies we enacted,” she said in a statement announcing her resignation on Jan. 6, 2021. “As someone who worked in the halls of Congress, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.”

Matthews was one of a handful of Trump aides and administration officials to resign following the Capitol attack — a list that includes first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

The committee questioned Matthews about activities inside the White House on Jan. 6, according to a source, as investigators work to reconstruct then-President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 using official records and call logs obtained from the National Archives.

Committee officials declined to comment.

The panel has also successfully subpoenaed the phone records of Trump White House staffers including former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, ABC News previously reported.

Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told ABC News the committee was scheduled to interview multiple former White House officials this week.

The committee has conducted nearly 500 interviews and has received tens of thousands of pages of Trump White House records from the National Archives.

Pelosi blasts McCarthy for dodging press on RNC resolution, GOP for hitting ‘rock bottom’

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called out GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, saying he “literally ran away” from ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott as she asked him one day earlier about the Republican National Committee censure resolution — a moment that has now captured international headlines and produced countless memes.

“Republicans seem to be having a limbo contest with themselves to see how low they can go,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill. “They seem to have reached rock bottom with their statement that what happened on January 6 was normal political discourse — legitimate, legitimate political discourse.”

The House speaker directly blasted her Republican counterpart for repeatedly dodging questions on the censure resolution in what’s unfolding as a defining moment for the GOP.

“It’s disturbing to see that Republican leader of the House ran — actually literally refused to condemn that resolution of legitimate political discourse. He literally ran away from the press when he was asked about his position,” Pelosi said.

“Republicans can run but they cannot hide from what happened on January 6,” she said. “To call that legitimate political discourse: 140 law enforcement officers were wounded, some people die. It was an assault on Capitol, on Congress. More importantly, an assault on our democracy.”

McCarthy has not publicly responded.

Pelosi went on to equate the Republican Party with a “cult” — echoing messaging from House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, who said earlier this week that the “C” in “RNC” stands for “cult.”

“I say this to Republicans all the time: ‘Take back your party from this cult.’ Take back your party. America needs a strong Republican Party and a strong Democratic Party,” she added.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega asked the White House on Tuesday for reaction to the RNC resolution and whether they agree with some Democrats’ characterization that the GOP is a “cult.”

“I think it’s clear to Americans that what happened on January 6 was not legitimate political discourse, storming the Capitol in an attempt to halt the peaceful transition of power is not legitimate political discourse, neither is attacking and injuring over 140 police officers, smashing windows and to defiling offices,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“It’s telling to all of us that some leading Republicans have projected that characterization, including the former president’s national security adviser and the chief of staff to the former vice president, who, as he put it, had a front-row seat that day, including as rioters chanted for the former Vice President to be hanged,” she continued. “So again, we certainly reject the notion that that was legitimate political discourse as we think – very a large number of Americans would as well.”

Pelosi putting Republicans on blast comes one day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, asked about the “legitimate political discourse” language the RNC used directly, pointedly characterized Jan. 6 as a “violent insurrection” and suggested the RNC was out of line to single out sitting members.

University of California reaches $243.6 million settlement in UCLA sex abuse scandal

February 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

University of California reaches 3.6 million settlement in UCLA sex abuse scandal

(IRVINE, Calif.) — The University of California announced on Tuesday that it reached an agreement to pay $243.6 million to 203 women, settling lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by former UCLA Health physician James Heaps.

The women filed a lawsuit against the university in California state court, according to UCLA.

“The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to the university’s values. We express our gratitude to the brave individuals who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing healing and closure for the plaintiffs involved,” UCLA said in a statement to ABC News.

The settlement comes after the university agreed in December to pay $73 million in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by seven women, on behalf of 5,500 women who were patients of the former UCLA gynecologist, court records show.

Heaps faces 21 charges in an ongoing criminal case brought against him in a Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to court records.

In addition to UCLA Health, the University of California’s Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center was also named in the litigation. The university had called for an independent review by a special committee to look into UCLA Health’s as well as the Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center’s responses to allegations of sexual misconduct by medical professionals, according to UCLA.

UCLA Health and the Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center representatives say they have taken substantial action to address the issues alleged in the litigation.

The report was completed and released publicly in June 2020, recommending additional policies and procedures to prevent, identify and address sexual misconduct, all of which are being adopted and implemented, according to UCLA.

“In light of this settlement and these changes at UCLA, we reiterate our ongoing commitment to never tolerate sexual violence or harassment in any form. Allegations of sexual misconduct by any health care provider will be promptly addressed, and appropriate actions will be taken to ensure our patients are safe, protected and respected,” UCLA said in a statement.

“As we move forward, we remain committed to providing top quality care that respects the dignity of every patient, and we remain dedicated to taking all necessary steps to ensure our patients’ well-being and to maintain the public’s confidence and trust,” UCLA said.

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