(NEW YORK) — At least 11 people are dead and dozens were rescued after a boat capsized Thursday off the coast of Puerto Rico, officials said.
The vessel, which was “suspected of taking part in an illegal voyage,” overturned shortly before noon local time Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft spotted the capsized vessel and people in the water about 11 miles north of Desecheo Island, a small, uninhabited wildlife refuge off Puerto Rico’s western coast.
The Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection responded along with the marine units of the Puerto Rico Police Department. The Coast Guard launched multiple helicopters from Air Station Borinquen and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos as part of the rescue operation.
There were 31 survivors, according to the Coast Guard. None of the passengers appeared to be wearing life jackets, it said.
The total number of passengers who were on the boat before it capsized is unclear.
The vessel was transporting non-U.S. citizens, the Coast Guard Office in Puerto Rico said.
Desecheo Island is located in the Mona Passage, a potentially dangerous strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
(HOLYOKE, Mass.) — Massachusetts has reached a $56 million settlement with the families of the dozens of veterans who died and were sickened during the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home’s widespread COVID-19 outbreak in the early months of the pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday.
“The COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was a terrible tragedy. While we know nothing can bring back those who were lost, we hope that this settlement brings a sense of closure to the loved ones of the veterans,” Baker said in a press release.
Tom Lesser, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told ABC News that the outbreak resulted in more than 160 veterans contracting the virus between March 1 and June 23, 2020, with at least 84 veterans ultimately dying from the infection.
The agreement is subject to approval by the federal district court for Massachusetts, and the terms of the settlement will cover veterans who lived at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home at any time between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020, and who became ill or died from COVID during that period.
According to the state, estates of deceased veterans would receive a minimum award of $400,000 and veterans who contracted COVID-19 but survived would receive a minimum of $10,000.
“There is no amount of money that can compensate our clients for the loss of their loved ones. But our clients are grateful that the Commonwealth has acted to resolve this matter without the need for protracted litigation by agreeing to compensate both the families of those who died of COVID, as well as the veterans who survived. The settlement is fair and just,” Plaintiffs’ lawyer Tom Lesser wrote in a statement.
For some of the victims’ families, the news of the settlement comes as a relief, though they remain upset at the devastating consequences of the decisions taken by the officials responsible for the state-run veterans’ home.
“I think it’s great because it’s at least some sort of acknowledgement, perhaps, but I would like to see the people with the powers that could have prevented or remedy that in it speedier fashion to be held accountable that needs to happen,” said Susan Kenney, whose 78-year-old father, Charles Lowell, contracted COVID-19 and died in the outbreak.
The loss of Lowell, an Air Force veteran who served from 1960 to 1965 during the Vietnam War, is still fresh for Kenney, who was emotional as she recalled trying to reach her father after he had fallen ill.
“Not knowing if your dad’s dead or alive and you see the death toll rising and rising… I wanted him to be cared for with honor and dignity, and we weren’t allowed that opportunity,” Kenney said.
Kenney stressed that the push from families to make changes at the Soldiers’ Home has nothing to do about the money, but rather a fight for “human rights”.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts House passed legislation that would require additional oversight of the home.
The state also reports that it has undertaken an “expedited capital project to reimagine the future of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke and develop the right, longer-term option to meet the current and evolving needs of area Veterans.”
“Something needs to be learned from it,” Kenney said. “Unfortunately, people were put in positions of power yet did nothing to prevent and only allowed people to get complacent in their positions and protocols, and it affected our veterans greatly. And most tragically it could have definitely been prevented.”
Late last month, the Massachusetts Inspector General’s office released a report detailing the “extensive mismanagement” and “oversight failures” at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, prior to the onset of the pandemic.
According to the report, former superintendent of the home, Bennett Walsh, was “quick to anger” and actively “intimidated” employees, further retaliating against staffers who angered him or whom he believed were disloyal.
“He created a negative work environment, engaged in retaliatory behavior, demonstrated a lack of engagement in the Home’s operations, circumvented the chain of command and bristled against supervision,” investigators said.
Walsh, alongside the facility’s former medical director, Dr. David Clinton, had faced charges of elder neglect, and permitting bodily injury. However, a Massachusetts judge cited no “reasonably trustworthy evidence” and dismissed charges for both.
However, the inspector general’s report found that Walsh did not have the managerial skills, leadership capacity, or temperament for his leadership role at the facility.
In May 2020, an attorney for Walsh insisted that Walsh did not keep anyone “in the dark” about the growing crisis inside, and took several steps to notify state and local officials about the growing rate of COVID-19 infections among veterans, but that Walsh’s requests for medical assistance for the facility were denied.
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Susan Hillis, who has spent years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is the lead author of several reports on Covid-related orphanhood and caregiver death, spoke recently about the devastating toll of the pandemic with ABC News’ David Muir, the anchor of “World News Tonight.”
“In the United States, for every four COVID deaths, we have one child left behind, orphaned of their parent or grandparent, caregiver who provided for their needs and nurture,” said Hillis who has a PhD in epidemiology.
Her recent study published in The Lancet in February 2022 includes a real-time Covid orphanhood calculator showing the global impact of the pandemic.
The research was led by the CDC, in collaboration with Harvard, Oxford, Imperial College, USAID, the World Bank, and World Health Organization.
According to the latest data, the number of children globally affected by orphanhood and caregiver death has now surpassed 10 million children — and more than 250,000 children have now lost a parent or caregiver in the U.S.
“It is an extraordinary number of children. That is why, we cannot in good conscience continue to ignore them,” Hillis told Muir.
The February report also compared the number of children whose parents or caregivers died in the first 14 months of the pandemic, 2.7 million children, to those affected in the next six months — and found the number nearly doubled, reaching 5.2 million by October 2021.
The study also shows that children whose parents or caregivers have died are mostly adolescents who have lost their fathers.
The research recommends that care for children must be integrated into every nation’s Covid response plan.
“There is not nearly enough being done, and that’s why it’s so important that all of us begin to ask these questions,” Hillis said, talking about the urgent need to find support for the children impacted by orphanhood.
(NEW YORK) — Louisiana’s House of Representatives is debating a bill Thursday which would ban abortions and subject women to criminal prosecution for murder.
The proposed bill seeks to rewrite the state’s homicide statute to include abortion. The bill also voids any federal statutes, regulations, treaties, orders and court rulings that would allow abortion.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a pro-life Democrat, issued a statement calling the bill “radical” and said it goes far beyond being pro-life.
“House Bill 813 is not a pro-life bill. In addition to the fact that this legislation is patently unconstitutional, this bill would criminalize the use of certain types of contraception, as well as parts of the in vitro fertilization process, and it could even serve as a barrier to life-saving medical treatment for a woman who is suffering a miscarriage,” Edwards said in a statement.
Edwards called the idea of a woman being jailed for an abortion “simply absurd.”
“I do not normally comment on these types of bills before they’ve made it through the legislative process, but I felt I had to join my voice to the chorus of pro-life organizations against HB 813,” Edwards said.
Anti-abortion group Louisiana Right to Life also criticized the bill, saying it is not consistent with the group’s policy and “does not exempt women from criminalization and is unnecessary to protect the life of babies from abortion.”
“Our longstanding policy is that abortion-vulnerable women should not be treated as criminals. Instead, we should hold accountable the individuals performing the abortion or selling or providing the chemical abortion drugs,” Louisiana Right to Life said in a statement.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Danny McCormick, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Louisiana Right to Life on Thursday said it supports an amendment by Rep. Alan Seabaugh which completely replaces the bill, and seeks to “hold accountable” those who provide abortion services rather than mothers, the group said in a statement.
“Through Rep. Seabaugh’s amendment, Louisiana will reaffirm its policy to protect unborn children from abortion without criminalizing abortion-vulnerable women. Unless HB 813 is fundamentally changed through Rep. Seabaugh’s amendment, Louisiana Right to Life is asking legislators to oppose HB 813,” said Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, in a statement.
(WASHINGTON) — Thousands of nurses from around the country marched to the White House and past the U.S. Capitol Thursday demanding reforms to the health care industry they claim has been putting their lives in danger and prioritizing profits over the care of patients.
They called for three major changes: fair wages, safe-staffing ratios, and protection against workplace violence — issues nurses say have only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the nation marked 1 million deaths from Covid, the nurses gathering in front of the White House warned of what they said was the dangerous nurse-to-patient staffing ratio putting both patients and nurses in danger.
While the ratio of nurses to patients depends on the type of care, a nurse most commonly cares for three patients at one time. Some nurses at Thursday’s protest reported caring for eight to 10 patients simultaneously. Cindy Reuss said she left her job after 17 year due to unsafe staffing ratios.
Her job job was her heart, she said, in an interview with ABC affiliate WJLA.
“None of us want to leave bedside nursing,” Reuss said. “But we cannot do it. With eight to ten patients, it’s not safe. We just want the opportunity to be good nurses.”
Other nurses at the protest highlighted what they said was the lack of protection nurses have against workplace violence.
Thomas Fernandes, who’s been a critical care travel nurse for five years, claimed a patient shattered a meth pipe on his head with no repercussions.
“Put your hands on a cop, you go to jail. Put your hands on a nurse and you can come back next week,” Fernandes said, pointing to what he said was a lack of penalties for patients who harm those dedicated to caring for them.
Adriane Carrier said she has been injured three times and spent two and half years out of work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing and residential care facilities have the second-highest workplace injury incident rates in the country.
“We need to have a safe workplaces and consequences for injuring and harming health care workers and nurses,” she said.
During their march past the U.S. Capitol, the nurses also demanded fair, reasonable and competitive wages, noting what they said is the increase in hospital profits while they’ve seen little to no increase in pay.
“This is a time where the health care industry and hospitals have made record profits while [nurses] are leaving the bedside,” Carrier said. “50,000 more nurses will be leaving the bedside. There will be no more nurses to take care of Americans and our country and that is going to be the biggest tragedy of all.”
(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — Officials have identified a U.S. Army soldier who died after sustaining injuries in a bear attack Tuesday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
Staff Sgt. Seth Michael Plant, 30, an infantryman from the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was part of a small group training in an area west of the Anchorage Regional Landfill when the attack took place, the base said Thursday.
Plant was “transported to the JBER hospital after the mauling where he was declared dead,” the base said in a statement Thursday.
A second soldier who suffered minor injuries in the attack was treated and released, according to the base.
Plant’s name was initially withheld following the incident pending next-of-kin notification. A native of Saint Augustine, Florida, he joined the active-duty Army in January 2015 after a stint in the reserve component. He had previously served at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before coming to JBER in July 2021.
“Staff Sgt. Plant was an integral part of our organization. He was a positive and dedicated leader who brought joy and energy to the paratroopers who served with him,” said Lt. Col. David J. Nelson, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment commander, said in a statement. “He always had a smile on his face, he always went above and beyond what was asked of him, and he served as an inspiration to all who had the privilege to know him. His loss is deeply felt within our organization and we offer our sincere condolences to friends and family.”
Plant had received numerous awards and decorations during his service, including the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the attack, along with the 673d Security Forces Squadron, 673d Civil Engineering Squadron Conservation Law Enforcement Officers, Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The 673d Security Forces Squadron responded to the incident, and the area was closed off to the public for recreation.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers were looking for the bear in the wake of the attack. It was unclear what type of bear was involved.
“More information about the attack will be announced as it becomes available,” the base said.
The U.S. Army Alaska Command is headquartered at JBER.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck and Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The White House is moving to deal with yet another crisis with potentially damaging political consequences: a nationwide shortage of baby formula.
President Joe Biden spoke Thursday with retailers and infant formula manufacturers — including Target, Walmart, Reckitt and Gerber — on efforts to make more supply available to American families, according to senior administration officials.
In the meantime, the White House will be urging states to let parents use their benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to purchase formula. The administration is also calling on the Federal Trade Commission and state officials to crack down on any instances of price gouging.
The FDA is expected to announce ways the U.S. can import more formula products from abroad in the coming days.
Even as one company said it could take up to two months to get its product back in stores, the FDA wouldn’t provide an estimate on when shelves will be replenished.
“We absolutely recognize the frustration that American families are feeling right now,” one official said on Thursday, “and that’s why the president has acted to direct administration to pull additional levers, take additional action to make more supply available as quickly as possible.”
Or as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat put it during her weekly press conference: “Right now the baby’s crying, the baby’s hungry, we need to address it right now.”
“President Biden has directed the administration to work urgently to ensure that infant formula is safe and available for families,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday
Asked why Biden and the administration hadn’t acted earlier, Psaki insisted that administration efforts had been “underway for months.”
“The steps the President took today are an acknowledgment and a recognition that more needs to be done. That we do not want parents, mothers, families out there to be stressed and worried about feeding their babies,” she said. “We are working. We are seeing increases over the last couple of weeks. More needs to be done. We are going to cut every element of red tape we can cut. We are going to work with manufacturers, we’re going to import more, to expedite this as quickly as possible.”
“If you are a parent who is looking for formula right now, struggling to find what you need, do you have, even have a rough guess of how long these shortages are going to last? pressed ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce.
“Well, we’ve already seen an increase in supply over the past couple of weeks. What we are seeing, which is an enormous problem, is hoarding. People hoarding because they’re fearful,” Psaki answered. “Our message to parents is we hear you, we want to do everything we can and we’re going to cut every element of red tape to help address this and make it better for you to get formula on the shelves.”
.@MaryKBruce: “When will parents be able to get the formula they need?”
Psaki: “FDA took a step to ensure that babies were taking safe formula…We’re going to work with manufacturers, we’re going to import more to expedite this as quickly as possible.” https://t.co/9KEtZZ0mlFpic.twitter.com/qZSdrHH3ry
A shortage of formula has been a long-standing problem because of supply chain problems, but the situation was made even worse when Abbott — one of the largest manufacturers of formula in the nation — announced in February a recall of three popular brands and shut down its Sturgis, Michigan, plant due to contamination concerns.
The company took the action after complaints of Cronobacter sakazakii and Salmonella Newport infections in infants who consumed the formula. Two of the infants died.
Parents report scrambling to find formula as the out-of-stock rate for baby formula hit 43% at the end the first week of May, according to a report from the real-time data tracking agency Datasembly.
Public outcry has garnered the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill — providing Republicans with another line of attack against the Biden administration.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., read letters he received from worried parents and grandparents aloud the floor of the Senate on Thursday.
“This outrageous, unacceptable situation has been unfolding in slow motion over several months,” McConnell said. “Much of it stems from a recall that resulted in a plant being shut down. But it seems that while President Biden’s administration and the FDA knew all about this problem as it developed, they had been asleep at the switch in terms of getting production back online as fast as possible.”
A group of House Republicans held a press conference Thursday to discuss the issue, hitting Biden for not getting ahead of the problem.
“This is not a Third World country” said Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik. “This should never happen in the United States.”
As outrage from the public intensifies, the FDA this week said it’s doing “everything in our power to ensure there is adequate product available where and when they need it.”
“Ensuring the availability of safe, sole-source nutrition products like infant formula is of the utmost importance to the FDA,” Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement. “Our teams have been working tirelessly to address and alleviate supply issues and will continue doing everything within our authority to ensure the production of safe infant formula products.”
Abbott has said it could restart operations at its Michigan plant within two weeks, so long as it gets a green light from the FDA. From there, it would take the company six to eight weeks to get the new product to shelves.
“We would begin production of EleCare, Alimentum and metabolic formulas first and then begin production of Similac and other formulas,” the company said.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel, Mariam Khan and Benjamin Gittleson contributed to this report.
(DALLAS) — Two suspected gunmen were arrested in connection with a mass shooting at a concert in Dallas last month that left one man dead and 16 people injured, including three juveniles, police said Thursday.
The suspects were identified as Astonial Calhoun, 25, and Devojiea Givens, 26, according to police. They were arrested Wednesday by Dallas police, the U.S. Marshals Service North Texas Fugitive Task Force and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Crime Task Force, officials said.
Both men were charged with felony deadly conduct and were being held Thursday at the Dallas County Jail, pending an arraignment, according to the Dallas Police Department.
Dallas homicide investigators found evidence connecting Calhoun and Givens to the shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of April 3 at the Second Annual Epic Easter Bike Out & Field Party, police said in a statement. The event was billed as a family-fun trail ride and outdoor concert.
During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia declined to disclose what evidence led homicide detectives to arrest Calhoun and Givens.
“A preliminary investigation has determined that following a fight that broke out at the event, Calhoun and Givens both fired handguns,” Garcia said. “The preliminary investigation determined Givens and Calhoun shot into the crowd.”
At the time of shooting, Givens was free on bond after being arrested in late January on another deadly conduct charge stemming from an incident in the Dallas suburb of Hutchins, Garcia said.
Garcia said the investigation is ongoing and detectives are working to identify other suspects they allege fired weapons, as well as those involved in the fight that preceded the shooting.
“Our thoughts continue to be with our victims, their families and we have an incredible team of men and women working this case to find those who were ultimately responsible,” Garcia said.
Attorney information for the two men arrested was not immediately available.
Police asked that anyone with video footage or photos of the fight and shooting to upload them to the police department’s evidence collection online portal.
A witness told ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas that the event was “jam-packed” with people and described a chaotic scene as gunfire prompted concert goers to run in all directions seeking cover. The chaos prevented police and emergency vehicle from quickly entering the scene to treat victims.
Police said the organizers of the concert that drew about 2,000 people did not have a permit to hold the event or an emergency plan.
The event’s organizer, Germaud Lyons, who goes by the nickname Bossman Bubba, said in a statement on Facebook April 3 that he was saddened by the shooting and blamed the incident on a higher than expected turnout.
“We took the necessary steps to offer safety by having Dallas Police officers and security personnel on scene. Additionally, emergency officers and vehicles were on standby. However, some things were still out of our control,” the statement said.
The person killed was identified by police as 26-year-old Kealon Dejuane Gilmore. Police said Gilmore was found lying near the stage with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sixteen other people were injured in the shooting and taken to hospitals in private vehicles or by ambulances, police said.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Michael Bennet on Thursday introduced a bill that would create a federal watchdog for the oversight of Big Tech companies, empowering the new agency to address controversial issues like algorithm bias and transparency in content moderation.
The bill from the Colorado Democrat comes as the tech giants face heightened scrutiny from both sides of the aisle in Congress, which has generated high-profile hearings and adversarial rhetoric but has struggled to pass legislation.
The latest push for reform follows a series of bombshell revelations from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen as well as an agreement among European Union lawmakers over a landmark law that would closely regulate the sector. The Washington Post first reported Bennet’s bill.
“As a country, we should take pride that most of the world’s leading tech companies were founded in America. But they aren’t start-ups anymore. Today they rank among the most powerful companies in human history,” Bennet said in a statement on Thursday.
“It’s past time for a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to regulating digital platforms that have amassed extraordinary power over our economy, society, and democracy,” he added.
The new agency would develop and enforce rules that regulate company conduct, mimicking the role played by oversight bodies that police pharmaceutical drugs or media standards, according to a summary of the bill provided by Bennet’s office.
The proposed legislation calls for the formation of the Federal Digital Platform Commission made up of five members, who would hold hearings, carry out investigations, and implement new rules. The agency would also include a Code Council featuring individuals from the industry and civil society who can offer further technical expertise, the bill summary said.
The bill will likely face a difficult path to passage in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow 50-50 majority due to a potential tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. While some Republicans have criticized Big Tech firms over perceived anti-conservative bias and other faults, they have also shown a reluctance to expand the regulatory reach of the federal government.
Meanwhile, some Big Tech leaders have expressed support for a sector-specific regulatory agency like the one outlined in the bill. At a congressional hearing in March 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a new agency “could be very effective and positive for helping out.” Microsoft President Brad Smith last month at a privacy summit signaled his approval of such an oversight body.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), led by legal scholar and Big Tech critic Lina Khan, serves as a major regulatory agency for the tech giants. Last July, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that called on the FTC to develop rules on data collection and to challenge prior company mergers. But progress on regulation at the agency remains limited.
In a separate effort from the Biden administration, the Justice Department has brought a lawsuit against Google over alleged antitrust violations.
Current watchdogs have proven insufficient for the new challenges posed by the tech industry, said Tom Wheeler, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who called the proposed bill “historic.”
“Our existing regulatory agencies were built in the industrial era on industrial-age concepts, and the challenge of 21st-century regulators is: How do you take statutes built in response to entirely different realities and relate them to what’s happening in the digital world?” said Wheeler, who previously called for the formation of such a watchdog.
“Let’s create an inherently digital agency,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Last July, a tearful Felicia Croft sat in her car after a long shift in the COVID-19 intensive care unit, and expressed her deep despair about watching young patients die of the virus.
“People are younger and sicker, and we’re intubating and losing people that are my age and younger people with kids that are my kids’ age that are never going to see their kids graduate. They’re never gonna meet their grandkids,” the nurse from Willis-Knighton Medical Center, in Louisiana, told ABC News at the time.
With vaccination rates lagging in Louisiana — fewer than 40% then — Croft said she was frustrated to see preventable deaths occurring.
“We have seen people [in the hospital] that have been vaccinated, but they usually go home to raise their kids, and to hug their husband or their wife. I can’t explain the feeling of defeat. When you do everything you pour everything into a patient and it’s not enough,” Croft explained.
Now, as the nation mourns the loss of 1 million lives to COVID-19, Croft shared a new video diary reflecting on the milestone and the last two years, expressing her relief that fewer patients are dying of the virus at her hospital.
“Today, I am standing here, and I am doing an empty room, in our empty COVID Unit, at the hospital, which is really, really exciting,” Croft said.
Reflecting on earlier experiences caring for a dear family friend, Croft described the pain of seeing people steadily deteriorate as they were intubated, and terribly sick with COVID-19.
As she spoke to the mother of her friend on the phone, Croft recalled feeling helpless as she was not able to truly comfort to his family.
“I remember his mom crying, and me not being able to go to her, and not being able to just love on and comfort somebody that I love, because we’re trying to save another life. That was so difficult,” Croft said.
And although at Willis-Knighton, the need for COVID-19 related care has slowed, Croft said she and her colleagues are still mourning the losses of all of the patients, friends, and family members that died of COVID-19.
“COVID has thankfully dwindled down, but we are still mourning losses, and seeing the effects of just how it’s changed a lot of people, a lot of people’s long-term health, a lot of people’s outlook and it’s just very humbling. It’s been a very humbling experience,” Croft said.
