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How schoolhouse culture wars may factor into the 2022 midterms

March 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — States nationwide are grappling with ongoing debates over critical race theory, sexual orientation and book censorship.

In many ways, some of the most contentious and deeply divisive issues in politics are anchored in the classroom and playing out in school boards across America.

Republicans across the country have been zeroing in on how social issues are covered by teachers, including lessons on race, gender identity, sexual orientation and more.

At least 35 states have introduced what is being called anti-critical race theory legislation that limits lessons about race and inequality which are perceived to be divisive by Republican bill supporters.

The country saw the power of “parental rights” and education play out in the Virginia election, where the now-governor was propelled to victory by focusing on those exact issues.

Experts say that Democrats have to pay close attention to these debates and shift the conversation away from the culture wars to avoid losses at the ballot box in 2022.

But students themselves are caught in the middle, especially those in vulnerable groups who are suffering as a result, experts say.

Parental Rights

While education has always been a key issue in America, it has gained steam in the past two years a proxy for the culture wars that were intensified during the pandemic.

Many Republicans have been pushing back against what they believe to be aspects of public education systems run amok, first with COVID-related restrictions and then with issues like race and sexuality, attempting to restrict and refocus discussions.

The Florida legislature recently passed the deeply controversial Parental Rights Education Bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by LGBTQ activists, which would limit what some classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under the new legislation, these lessons “may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

It’s an effort that gives parents and guardians more control over what their children learn in school and that opponents say is overly broad.

Similar bills from Republican legislators restricting LGBTQ education have crept up in several other states, including Tennessee, Arkansas, Montana and Georgia.

However, a new ABC News/IPSOS poll found that 62% of Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, while 37% of Americans support legislation that would.

There have also been attempts to impart issues like structural racism and comprehensive sex education into school curricula. Especially since protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, there has been a renewed push to highlight the role of racism in American history and institutions.

Many of those efforts have been lumped under the banner of “critical race theory,” a discipline in higher education that teaches about racism in U.S legal systems. While it is not taught in K-12 classes, many legislators have been invoking critical race theory broadly in their arguments to attempt to restrict discussions of race in the classroom.

What is taught in schools has typically been a state and local issue (with relatively recent exceptions like No Child Left Behind), impacting governor races across the country, according to experts. However, many experts now predict that the importance of education may extend nationally to the midterm elections.

A recent CNN poll found that 81% of respondents said education was either extremely or very important to them heading into the 2022 elections.

Shavar Jeffries, the national president of political advocacy organization Democrats for Education Reform, said he believed that growing frustrations from parents on their involvement in education may be swaying them at the polls.

Jeffries pointed to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s win in Virginia, after making education a centerpiece of his campaign and promising to “invest more in schools, raise teacher pay, and demand better performance from our schools.” His slogan: “parents matter.”

“The 2022 midterms will hinge on Democrats’ ability to learn from these lessons and lead on education,” said Jeffries in a press release on Youngkin’s win.

Republicans steer education debate

Joanna Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Republican Governor Association, told ABC News that Republican governors said they are hearing from parents that they want a say in their children’s education. Now, governors are channeling that energy, and believe a parent’s say “needs to be codified into law.”

Most, if not all, legislation that restricts LGBTQ content or race education in schools comes from Republican legislators.

“As we begin to see those successes — with those surface-level successes, and public opinion changing — we also begin to have these very big conversations around the nation’s history and inequality within the nation’s history,” Rigueur told ABC News.

The debate even made it into the White House, with the Trump administration issuing its 1776 Report in opposition to the 1619 project which reframes the story of America by placing “slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of the [country’s] national narrative,” according to the project website.

Rigueur said that so-called “culture warriors” are trying to channel the fears and vulnerabilities of some parents to turn back the clock on social progress.

“One of the fastest ways to get parents to rally around a cause is to [imply] that schools are teaching something that’s inappropriate … something dangerous,” Rigueur said.

“It is a relatively easy way to get parents, who often feel powerless in the education process, deeply invested in order to change both the curriculum and the subject matter that their children have access to.”

On anti-LGBTQ legislation, Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at the Human Rights Campaign, said education is the key to combating fear-mongering and the demonization of LGBTQ people.

“It is about painting a picture that is just completely not true,” Oakley said of this legislation. “The American public needs to understand that they’re being lied to by the folks who are putting these bills forward.”

As the midterm elections approach, Rigueur said Democrats have to fight to combat the forces against them.

Not only does the party of the incumbent president typically have a much harder time during the midterms, but the pandemic has also piled on the pressure in several political spheres, Rigueur said.

Rigueur added that a lot of these culture wars have been tied to the pandemic. The debate about freedom regarding mask mandates and vaccines highlights the growing want for parental control amid the dramatic changes that COVID-19 has caused.

“Part of what Democrats can do is really push the issue back to these bread-and-butter issues that the vast majority of Americans signify over and over again that they care about,” she said, like the economy and health care.

However, as politicians fight these ongoing political battles, students lie in their wake according to Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association (NEA).

“True learning only happens when students feel supported and celebrated in the classroom,” Pringle said in response to the Florida anti-LGBTQ bill.

Battleground heads to the classroom

Some students have circumvented book bans by delivering restricted readings to other students, holding sit-ins in the state Capitol building, or walking out of their classrooms in protest of bills that are anti-race education and anti-LGBTQ.

“Students, pre-K through [12th grade] are always silenced,” CJ Walden, a youth activist in South Florida, told ABC News. “Lawmakers need to know that this is not a game that they are playing.”

Other activist organizations, including the NEA, LGBTQ suicide prevention group The Trevor Project and the Human Rights Campaign, have highlighted the impact this will have on students in the classroom.

“We will not fall for the politics of division and distraction, in Florida or anywhere — we will continue to join together to ensure all students can learn, grow, and thrive,” Pringle said.

Fauci says COVID-19 cases will likely increase soon, though not necessarily hospitalizations

March 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Over the next few weeks, the U.S. should expect an increase in cases from the BA.2 variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News, but it may not lead to as severe a surge in hospitalizations or deaths.

“I would not be surprised if in the next few weeks we see somewhat of either a flattening of our diminution or maybe even an increase,” Fauci told ABC News’ Brad Mielke on the podcast “Start Here.”

His prediction is based on conversations with colleagues in the U.K., which is currently seeing a “blip” in cases, Fauci said. The pandemic trajectory in the U.S. has often followed the U.K. by about three weeks.

However, he added, “Their intensive care bed usage is not going up, which means they’re not seeing a blip up of severe disease.”

The BA.2 variant, a more transmissible strain of omicron, now represents around 23% of all cases in the U.S., according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And while Fauci predicted that the BA.2 variant will eventually overtake omicron as the most dominant variant, it’s not yet clear how much of a problem that will be.

“Whether or not that is going to lead to another surge, a mini surge or maybe even a moderate surge, is very unclear because there are a lot of other things that are going on right now,” Fauci said.

Similar to the U.K., much of the U.S. has recently relaxed mitigation efforts like mask mandates and requirements for proof of vaccination. At the same time, people who were vaccinated over six months ago and still haven’t gotten a booster shot, which is about half of vaccinated Americans, according to the CDC, are facing continuously waning immunity.

It’s also not yet clear how long immunity from prior infection will last, Fauci said.

Taken together, it’s why Fauci and other experts, including CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, have increasingly predicted that elderly people will need a second booster shot soon. The Food and Drug Administration began reviewing data from Pfizer on the safety and efficacy this week, and its advisory panel will debate if and when the additional booster shot is necessary in the coming weeks.

At the same time, Fauci urged Americans who haven’t yet gotten their first booster, which would be their third shot in a Pfizer or Moderna series, to do so.

A resurgence of cases could also mean Americans are asked to wear masks again, which Fauci predicted would be an uphill battle.

“From what I know about human nature, which I think is pretty much a lot, people are kind of done with COVID,” Fauci said.

Still, he defended the CDC decision to loosen its mask recommendations earlier this month by shifting to a strategy that focused more on severe outcomes, like hospitalizations and deaths, rather than on daily case spread.

“You can go ahead and continue to tiptoe towards normality, which is what we’re doing, but at the same time, be aware that you may have to reverse,” Fauci said.

And if the U.S. does continue to make its way back toward normal times, Fauci himself has a personal choice to consider. At 81 years old, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is “certainly” thinking about retirement.

“I have said that I would stay in what I’m doing until we get out of the pandemic phase and I think we might be there already, if we can stay in this,” Fauci said, referring to the falling cases and hospitalizations in the U.S.

“I can’t stay at this job forever. Unless my staff is gonna find me slumped over my desk one day. I’d rather not do that,” he said, laughing.

While he doesn’t currently have retirement plans, the recent hire of Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, to be White House coronavirus coordinator, could alleviate some of his pandemic response duties and give him a window.

But Fauci, who has dedicated his career to public health, primarily studying HIV and AIDS, and worked under seven U.S. presidents, said he doesn’t have any particular hobbies waiting for him in retirement.

“I, unfortunately, am somewhat of a unidimensional physician, scientist, public health person. When I do decide I’m going to step down, whenever that is, I’m going to have to figure out what it is I’m going to do,” he said.

“I’d love to spend more time with my wife and family. That would really be good.”

Bill backs up new 988 suicide prevention line with funding

March 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — In advance of the rollout of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s new three-digit number, legislators have announced a bill to help fund its implementation.

The bill includes federal funding and guidance for states and localities preparing for the July launch, including mental health block grants and $100 million to partner with cities on mobile crisis response teams to help stabilize people in need. It would also increase the amount of federal funding for the Lifeline, which runs a national backup network to receive calls that can’t be picked up at the state and local levels, and provide $10 million for an awareness campaign about the new 988 number — modeled after 911.

The 24-hour hotline has been in service since 2005 and has received more than 20 million calls.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration expects calls to the Lifeline to more than double during the first full year of the three-digit number, and advocates say the Lifeline is underfunded and understaffed to meet the expected increase in call volume.

Despite the effort to improve the system, advocates say, people in crisis could face delays — or might not be able to reach a counselor at all without more funding.

Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., announced the funding bill to address that issue at a press conference Thursday.

“[My bill] is to go ahead and move 988 in the right direction — to move 988 in a direction where we’re going to have local states and local city councils and local county supervisors and mayors and governors and legislators, state legislators, to start to pass funding bills,” Cárdenas told ABC News.

The 988 Implementation Act is also co-sponsored by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass.

Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said about 80% of calls to the Lifeline can be de-escalated over the phone. Of the 20% that can’t, she said, about 70% can be resolved with the help of mobile crisis response teams. The rest can go to crisis stabilization centers, after which a majority can be discharged back into the community without needing to be hospitalized.

“Mobile crisis teams, which provide an alternative to law enforcement, are so critical. Relying on law enforcement is just an ineffective way to respond to [mental health] crises. That’s not the job law enforcement signed up for, nor should we be asking them to do that,” Wesolowski said.

She added that people experiencing a mental health crisis are often taken to emergency departments that don’t specialize in psychiatric care.

“So this would really help provide capital grants and other capacity resources to build crisis receiving and stabilization facilities that really serve as kind of a psychiatric emergency room that provides that short-term stabilization, [and] connections to additional care — whether that’s helping somebody return to the community, or in some cases, might be inpatient hospitalization,” Wesolowski said. “Overwhelmingly, when this whole continuum is availabl, we can avoid a lot of that hospitalization, incarceration, homelessness and other negative outcomes that we often see with our current crisis response system.”

Taun Hall, whose son Miles was shot and killed in 2019 at age 23 while experiencing a mental health crisis in California, also spoke at the press conference. She said her family tried to get Miles help for two years, but it was “almost impossible.”

“Getting help is a reactive process and leads to criminalization, especially when police are involved and responsible for their care. This is exactly what happened to our family. I called 911 to get Miles help while he was experiencing a mental health emergency and Miles was criminalized for his Black skin,” Hall said. “He was shot and killed in the community where he lived and grew up for 18 years.”

“Everyone knows you dial 911,” Moulton said. “The same needs to be true for anyone, if you wake up in the middle of the night and you or a loved one is experiencing a mental health emergency. That’s the difference that this bill is going to make.”

Moulton, who introduced the legislation to designate 988 as the Lifeline number back in 2020, said it will save lives.

“We’ll save thousands, but we don’t want to miss a single one,” Moulton said. “We have to make sure that everybody is geared up. So no matter where you are, no matter what phone you have access to, you can get the help that you need, 24/7.”

Hairstylist spots skin cancer on client: What dermatologists want you to know

March 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — While many people know a trip to the hairdresser can save you from a bad hair day, it could also save your life.

That was the case for an Illinois-based woman, Mary Rahilly, who had an appointment for a cut and color. Her hairstylist, Sharon Lupo, who she visits regularly, noticed something new and unusual on her scalp — and suggested that she visit a dermatologist.

“It was almost a discolored spot. I knew I had to tell her,” Lupo told Good Morning America.

After making a rush appointment, Rahilly’s doctor could almost immediately tell it was a form of cancer and proceeded to run a biopsy, which confirmed it.

The scalp is a common place for skin cancer, Dr. Ramona Beshad, assistant professor of dermatology at St. Louis University, told GMA.

“It’s a place where skin cancers tend to be diagnosed late, because oftentimes they’re covered by hair and not easy to see,” she said.

In Rahilly’s case, Lupo was able to get a good look at what was hiding underneath her client’s hair.

Luckily, Rahilly got the squamous cell on her scalp removed before it spread.

“She knows I’m grateful and that, you know, she’s an awesome person. She is,” Rahilly said. Lupo chimed in, sharing that Rahilly called her a hero.

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States, with one in five Americans developing it by the age of 70, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Because hairstylists can play an integral role in spotting skin cancer in this often-hidden area, Beshad started Stylists Against Skin Cancer, a program to teach cosmetology students how to properly identify these cancers.

There’s also another program Sty-Lives, short for Styling Hair and Saving Lives, that is led by two Ontario-based medical students and has launched across Canada with the Save Your Skin Foundation. The foundation trains hairdressers to spot lesions on the ears, faces and scalps of their clients.

Dr. Whitney Bowe, a dermatologist, shared some of her tips and best practices for spotting skin cancer with GMA.

“I highly recommend doing a self exam every month and looking at your skin closely from head to toe,” she said.

Bowe also recommends recruiting a friend or loved one to look at places you can’t see, such as behind your ears, your back and the back of your neck as well as the legs.

When looking for skin cancer, Bowe says to look at:

A- Asymmetry

B- Border

C- Color

D- Diameter

E- Evolution

When it comes to the summer months, skin cancer prevention is key, according to Bowe.

She suggests broad spectrum sunscreen and re-applying every two hours to dry skin or more often if you are wet, swimming or sweating.

“But sunscreen is not enough,” she added. “Also wear sun protective fabric, a broad rimmed hat, sunglasses, and seek shade especially when the sun is at its peak.”

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia threatens countries arming Ukraine

March 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”

Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time this week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.

For previous coverage please click here.

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

Mar 18, 6:48 am
Russian foreign minister threatens countries arming Ukraine

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that any foreign supplies to Ukraine containing military equipment will be considered “legitimate targets” for Russian strikes.

“We clearly said that any cargo moving into the Ukrainian territory which we would believe is carrying weapons would be fair game. This is clear because we are implementing the operation the goal of which is to remove any threat to the Russian Federation coming from the Ukrainian soil,” Lavrov said in an English-language interview with the RT television channel.

Mar 18, 6:29 am
Putin says Ukraine ‘seeking to drag out’ negotiations

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with Germany’s leader Olaf Scholz accused Ukraine of “seeking to drag out” negotiations with Russia to end the war by putting forward “new unrealistic proposals.”

Putin told Scholz Russia was “nonetheless ready to continue the search for a solution within the bounds of its well-known principled approaches,” the Kremlin said in a readout of the call.

It’s a negative sign for the ongoing talks with Ukraine that both sides have suggested have made some progress this week.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Mar 18, 4:41 am
Lviv struck by missiles for the first time

Russian missiles have hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv for the first time Friday, a key location that had been spared from the assault until now.

The missiles struck the area around the city’s airport, according to the mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, around 6:30 a.m. local time, hitting an aircraft repair facility and destroying the building.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack, according to the mayor.

Preliminary data indicated that six cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea, according to the country’s western military command. Two were destroyed by anti-aircraft missile systems.

-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz

Mar 17, 8:34 pm
White House ‘focused’ on ways to help growing Ukrainian refugee crisis

The Biden administration is “focused” on ways to help Ukrainian refugees, as the number of people displaced by the war continues to grow, according to U.S. officials.

More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency, in Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.

“As the numbers increase, as the burden increases for European partners, we will certainly do everything we can to help,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Thursday, adding it was “something we’re very focused on right now.”

Without offering specifics, Blinken confirmed the administration is “looking at things that we can do ourselves and do directly — for example, looking at steps we may be able to take on family reunification and other things.”

One limited option is fast-tracking the process to admit refugees to the U.S. itself, which is defined by law and requires a referral from the U.N.’s refugee agency and thorough vetting. A senior administration official told ABC News that the refugee program “is not an emergency response program, so our goal would be to provide humanitarian assistance to keep people safe where they are for now.”

As Blinken told reporters, the referral process to be granted refugee status “takes time.” Refugee resettlement is a yearslong process, and there are already 7,000 Ukrainian refugees in the pipeline, according to resettlement agency Church World Service.

The senior administration official also said U.S. embassies and consulates in the region are processing emergency visa applications, but that they are overwhelmed. “We are not able to process the volume of the people who are thinking about that as an option,” the official said.

Refugee resettlement agencies say the administration is considering using the Lautenberg program, which allows religious minorities — including Ukrainian Greek Catholics and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Christians — to bring family members to the U.S. with a potentially expedited refugee status. One agency told ABC News there are thousands of Ukrainian applicants who the U.S. could swiftly admit.

The administration has already approved temporary protected status for any Ukrainians in the U.S. before March 1 — allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. for at least the next 18 months.

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson, Sarah Kolinovsky and Conor Finnegan

US ‘Switchblade’ drones heading to Ukraine can target Russian vehicles and artillery: Pentagon official

March 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.

Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Thursday on Day 22:

U.S. drones heading to Ukraine effective against Russian vehicles and artillery

After the White House on Wednesday announced 100 “tactical unmanned aerial systems” would be part of a new $800 million weapon package for Ukraine, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News these would be small “Switchblade” drones.

Unlike long-range Predator drones, which look similar to small planes and fire missiles at targets, Switchblade drones are the missiles, using GPS to guide themselves straight into their targets to detonate their payloads.

The smallest version, the Switchblade 300, fits in a backpack, weighs only 5.5 pounds, and has a range of about six miles. It can be sent into flight from a small mortar tube, its wings extending into place as it exits the launcher. The larger Switchblade 600 weighs nine times more, but carries an anti-armor warhead and can hit targets up to 25 miles away, according to the manufacturer.

Both models have a “wave-off” feature so that human operators can abort an attack if civilians appear near the target or if the enemy leaves the area.

The U.S. official could not confirm which versions the U.S. is sending to Ukraine, but a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Thursday that they would be effective against various targets.

“These tactical UAVs can be useful against Russian vehicles and artillery,” the senior U.S. defense official said.

Taking out Russian long-range artillery is especially important for Ukraine as Russian forces ramp up their bombardment of major cities.

No Russian progress on Kyiv in 7 days

The Russian forces nearest Kyiv are still about nine miles to the northwest of the city’s center, the senior U.S. defense official said. This is the same distance away they were estimated to be last Friday.

They haven’t been able to advance because Ukrainian forces “are very actively resisting any movement by the Russians,” the official said, but adding that Russia maintains an advantage with “long-range fires” — missiles and artillery.

Although those nearest troops have stalled, other forces are coming to join them from behind, bringing with them long-range artillery pieces.

“So, it appears that they continue to want to conduct a siege of Kyiv, that’s what you want to use artillery for,” the official said. “We haven’t seen that manifest itself, we’re just seeing them move them into place.”

The only notable advancement of Russian forces since Wednesday is to the southeast of Kharkiv, where the Pentagon assesses they have taken control of Izyum. The official said their intent is likely to push south toward Donetsk and Mariupol to seal off the Donbas area and prevent Ukrainian troops in the east from moving westward to defend other areas.

Russian warships near Odessa

The U.S. continues to see Russian naval activity “not far from Odessa” in the northern Black Sea, the official said. This includes about six surface-war vessels: at least two amphibious landing ships, frigates, and one mine-warfare ship. Despite this activity, there are still no indications of an imminent amphibious assault.

Unlike on Wednesday, there have been no signs of Russian ships shelling towns around Odessa, the official said.

Russian bombardment of cities continues, more civilians hit

Russia has now launched more than 1,000 missiles against Ukraine, according to the official. This is up from an estimate of 980 on Wednesday. These estimates count missile launches, not necessarily effective hits. The official said they could not offer an estimate of how many of these munitions end up being duds.

Again the official said Russians are relying more on “dumb” munitions, meaning unguided weapons.

The official said it’s not clear why, but said it could be an effort to conserve their precision weapons, or a sign they’re running low on them. At any rate, these less-discriminate weapons are seen as a greater threat to civilians.

“We have seen an increase of strikes on civilian infrastructure and civilian targets,” the official said, but could not quantify the damage or casualties.

S-300s for Ukraine

The official would not directly address questions about whether the U.S. would help facilitate Russian-made S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems for Ukraine.

“We are working with allies and partners to continue to provide security assistance to the Ukrainians on short-range and tactical systems as well as long-range systems, to include long-range air defense. And there’s a lot that goes into that, and some countries just have access to inventory that are more suitable for the Ukrainians than some of our systems because they’re trained on them — they operate them, they know them, they’re comfortable with them. And it’s a whole suite of things. And I’ve stayed away from naming individual systems and I think it’s just better if I continue to do that. But we are in active conversations with countries about all these kinds of capabilities to see what they can do to continue to provide support to Ukraine,” the official said.

Russian disinformation campaign

“In Russia, anecdotally, we see their narratives having more of an effect. But then again, they shut down independent media. The only thing available for most Russians now is state media, and so you would expect that those narratives would be more widely consumed and even more widely believed. But outside of Russia, there’s little to no evidence that their information ops are working. In fact, we’ve seen quite the opposite,” the official said.

Low Russian morale

The U.S. has anecdotal evidence of low morale in some Russian units, according to the official.

“Some of that is, we believe, a function of poor leadership, lack of information that the troops are getting about their mission and objectives, and I think disillusionment from being resisted as fiercely as they have been,” the official said.

The official also said it’s “noteworthy” that Russians are considering bringing in more troops and supplies only three weeks into the invasion. The Pentagon believes this is due to poor logistical planning and stronger-than-expected resistance.

NOAA spring weather outlook: High temperatures likely, drought to expand in West

March 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(New York) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued its spring 2022 outlook for the U.S. on Thursday, forecasting prolonged, persistent drought in the West and likely below-average precipitation for the second year in a row.

The NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center’s forecast predicts above average temperatures for most of the U.S. from April to June, from the Desert Southwest to the East Coast and north through the Midwest to the Canadian border.

The agency also foresees continuing or worsening drought April through June west of the Mississippi River, from Mississippi to California and north to Montana and Washington.

In the West and South, it will be drier than normal, worsening and expanding the drought. But in the East, drought that has been seen in the Southeast and parts of the Great Lakes will likely improve and end over the next few months.

“Severe to exceptional drought has persisted in some areas of the West since the summer of 2020, and drought has expanded to the southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley,” Jon Gottschalck, chief of the operational prediction branch of the NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, said in a press release.

“With nearly 60% of the continental U.S. experiencing minor to exceptional drought conditions, this is the largest drought coverage we’ve seen in the U.S. since 2013,” Gottschalck added.

13-year-old driving truck in crash that killed 7 members of college golf team: NTSB

March 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(MIDLAND, TX) — A 13-year-old was at the wheel of the pickup truck that swerved in front of a van carrying the University of the Southwest’s men’s and women’s golf teams, killing nine people, including the underage driver, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Six members of the team and the head coach were killed in the crash. Two remain in critical condition at a Texas hospital.

NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg told reporters that the Dodge 2500 Ram pickup truck driven by the teen was traveling northbound near Midland, Texas, on Tuesday night when it crossed into the southbound lane and collided head on with the 17-seat passenger van carrying the golf teams. The truck’s left front tire was a spare that failed and caused the vehicle to pull hard left and cross into the opposing lane, according to the NTSB.

In addition to the 13-year-old, whose name was not released, a 38-year-old man, Henrich Siemens, was in the Dodge pickup. Both were killed, as well as the coach, Tyler James, and six golfers in the passenger van.

The players who died were identified as Maurico Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colorado; Karissa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona, Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal.

The two passengers in the team van who survived the wreck, Dayton Price,19, of Mississauga, Ontario, and Hayden Underhill, 20, of Amherstview, Ontario, remain hospitalized as of Thursday in Lubbock, Texas, according to the University of the Southwest.

Investigators were able to determine the teen was in the driver’s seat based on the size of the remains inside the truck, according to Landsberg.

Landsberg said his team is going through all of the evidence at the scene, including vehicle recorders, but it does appear that the incident was “very clearly a high speed, head-on collision.” Both vehicles burst into flames after the crash.

“We have literally thousands of pictures that were taken by the various first responders, and there is no question about the force of impact,” he said.

Landsberg added that “quite a number of the bus passengers were not wearing seatbelts,” during the incident.

The NTSB will release a preliminary report on its investigation in two to three weeks, Landsberg said.

Ryan Tipton, the provost of the University of the Southwest, provided an update on the two injured students during a news conference Thursday and said the school would be supporting them during their long journey.

“Every day is a game of inches, and every hour is one step closer to another day,” he said.

Tipton said most students are off campus for spring break but the school is planning to hold a memorial service in honor of those who died when classes resume.

“We are a family of Mustangs,” he said, referring to the school’s mascot. “We’ve run as one, we run together and [when] one of us is hurting, all of us are hurting.”

2 killed, 2 injured injured in shooting on Florida transit bus

March 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) — Two people are dead and another two injured after a shooting on a public transit bus in Florida, police said.

Another three people were injured in a car crash connected to the incident in Fort Lauderdale Thursday afternoon.

The shooting occurred around 3:25 p.m. on a Broward County Transit bus. The bus driver heard “several gunshots” and pulled into the parking lot of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, according to acting Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Luis Alvarez.

“The bus driver’s quick actions to pull into the police station saved lives,” Alvarez said at a briefing.

The driver forced the bus past another vehicle to get into the parking lot, resulting in the car crash, the chief said. The three people injured in the crash were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Within an hour of reporting the incident, police said the suspected shooter was in custody. The suspect surrendered to an officer, according to Alvarez.

“We do not believe there to be any further threat to the public,” the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said on Twitter.

The motive is unclear at this time.

All witnesses are being questioned as part of the investigation, police said.

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

Warsaw mayor pleads for help with refugee crisis: ‘We can’t do it alone’

March 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As Ukrainians continue to flee their homes and find safety in neighboring countries, some cities are becoming overwhelmed with refugees and are unable to provide them with the resources they need.

“We’ll continue helping. We will accept as many Ukrainians as we need to,” Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, Poland, told ABC News Live on Thursday. “But we need assistance, we need international institutions in place. We need a relocation system in Europe and in the world, because we can’t do it alone.”

More than 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, with over half moving to Poland, according to the United Nations. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, has seen a 20% increase in its population in just a few weeks, according to Trzaskowski. He said the city has welcomed over 300,000 Ukrainians but are no longer able to improvise.

Trzaskowski is calling on the European Union and the United Nations to help set up a system, which would help move refugees in Warsaw to other cities that are less overwhelmed and can better provide the physical and psychological care that’s needed.

“I’m calling myself in the middle of the night, my friends from different cities in Poland and in Europe, and I ask them for assistance. We bus people to different places all over,” Trzaskowski told ABC News Live. “We cannot do it anymore. We need a workable system.”

Trzaskowski said it’s not just beds and food that people need, but that as time goes on, new refugees are coming in having seen more destruction and are in need of immediate mental health services.

“At the beginning, three weeks ago, people who were coming to Warsaw were taken care of by their families and by their friends. Now, people come traumatized by war. They escape rockets, they escape bullets, members of families have been killed, members of their families are stranded in basements,” he explained. “They not only need shelter, they need reassurance. They need a helping hand.”

The mayor said Poland has tried to provide a sense of normalcy for families. Earlier this week, a bill was passed in Polish Parliament to provide Ukrainian children with free education and schooling. The mayor told ABC News Live that more than 10,000 Ukrainian students are already learning in Warsaw classrooms.

“We welcome them and we treat them like citizens,” Trzaskowski said. “We provide any help we can, but there is only so much that we can coordinate.”

Trzaskowski said Warsaw and all of Poland have tried their best to help during this crisis. Polish families have stood at the border, inviting refugees into their homes, feeding people who have gone days without eating or drinking water while traveling and making them feel welcomed into the country while the war continues.

“Without volunteers, without non-governmental organizations, we wouldn’t go anywhere,” the mayor said.

He emphasized that though these efforts have been able to provide for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, more still needs to be done. And without a plan going forward, they will not be able to continue this effort, he said.

The mayor went on to thank the United States for providing support and said it’s made a significant impact throughout this crisis.

“I want to thank President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the whole Biden administration, and the U.S. Congress for being really tough on Russia, for imposing sanctions, for treating them seriously and for those words which are ringing in our ears, which say that the United States of America will defend every inch of NATO territory,” he told us. “And just because we can feel secure, all of us in Europe, because of that statement and because of the actions of the American government, we can do our job in a peaceful manner.”

Trzaskowski added that throughout this refugee crisis, he has looked to the bravery of leaders in Ukraine, which has given him courage to produce a plan that will give every refugee a place to call home while their nation is under attack.

“If President Zelenskyy in Kyiv is not panicking, we’re not going to either,” he said.

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