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There may be an increase in COVID cases this summer. Experts say this is why you shouldn’t be concerned

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the United States heads into the summer season, early indicators show the country is likely to experience an increase in COVID-19 infections.

For the week ending June 8, the latest date for which data is available, COVID test positivity was 5.4% across the U.S., an increase of 0.8% from the previous week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In the Western region — which is comprised of Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada — COVID test positivity was 12.8%, higher than any other region of the U.S. The New England region — made up of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — had the next highest test positivity rate at 5.4%, matching the national rate.

Wastewater data from the CDC shows that although viral activity levels are still low nationally, levels have more than doubled in the western U.S. over the last month.

Additionally, COVID emergency department visits for the week ending June 8 rose 12.6% from the week prior, according to CDC data.

Traditionally, the U.S. has seen increases in COVID every summer, typically after the Fourth of July, but public health experts said Americans will likely see a “drift upwards” rather than a surge.

“To put it proportionally to like where we were in many winters, we are at a very, very low rate of COVID, compared to some of our peaks,” Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division at Duke University, told ABC News. “Like compared to early 2022, for example, when omicron first emerged, this is night and day different. But … there’s just this little drift upwards, perhaps in the last few weeks.”

Increases have been seen in several states, most notably on the West Coast. In Los Angeles, the county’s Department of Public Health reported an average of 121 cases on June 13, up from a daily average of 106 instances one week prior.

However, experts said a combination of us learning how to better manage the virus and having high levels of immunity means COVID will not be a major threat to the average person.

“Our bodies have learned how to manage the virus over the last four years, meaning that many people have had successive waves of infection, many people have had initial vaccinations,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News. “So that combined immunity gives a big force field that can help protect us during the summer. … Although most people will be fine, there are still some people that are going to get very sick.”

As of Tuesday, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. remain stable. For the week ending May 18, the last week of complete data, there were 311 deaths due to COVID, which is the lowest death figure recorded in the U.S. since the beginning of the pandemic.

Chin-Hong said most hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among high-risk groups, including elderly individuals aged 75 and older and people who are immunocompromised, such as those who have undergone organ transplants or are on medications that suppress the immune system.

He recommends the average person track COVID wastewater data from the CDC to see if it’s trending upwards in their area and to keep masks and COVID rapid tests handy in case they need them, but he added that an increase in COVID should not be cause for fear.

“I think there’s a fine balance between ignoring everything and being scared by everything,” Chin-Hong said. “It’s like when you’re crossing the street. You never just run across a busy road; you always look both ways, but it doesn’t mean you don’t go to the next destination. So, I think in the new… phase of COVID, that’s the way we should think about it.”

Similarly, Wolfe said people should assess their individual risk and take more precautions if they will be around high-risk individuals such as senior citizens or sick patients. He also recommended getting the newest updated COVID vaccine that will likely be rolled out in late September.

“Very much in the same way that flu vaccines are tailored each year to adapt to the strains that we see, the same is occurring with COVID,” Wolfe said. “And I think for someone who might be themselves or someone in their family or close contact known to be high risk I’m going to be still actively encouraging those people to get vaccinated.”

More than 70 million in 14 states under heat alerts amid blistering heat wave

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than 70 million people in 14 states from the Midwest into the Northeast were under heat alerts on Wednesday amid a sweltering early summer heat wave.

The extreme heat was expected on Wednesday to stretch farther north, touching parts of central and northern Maine.

The National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, issued its first-ever excessive heat warning. Temperatures there are expected to reach 96 degrees, matching the record high.

Records are also possible on Wednesday in Concord, New Hampshire, at 97; Detroit, Michigan, at 94; Cleveland, Ohio, at 91; Buffalo, New York, at 91; and Hartford, Connecticut, at 95.

The record heat is expected to continue for the Northeast over the next few days, with hottest day for I-95 corridor to be on Thursday.

The dome of high pressure that is causing all the record heat is expected to begin to move back into the Ohio Valley by the end of the week and into the weekend.

The movement may bring record highs to major Midwestern cities, including Chicago, by Saturday.

Witness tells House Ethics Committee that Matt Gaetz paid her for sex: Sources

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — In recent weeks, House Ethics Committee investigators have conducted a string of interviews behind closed doors with numerous women who were witnesses in the years-long Justice Department sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, multiple sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News.

Investigators have interviewed at least half a dozen women who allegedly attended parties where the Florida Congressman was also present and who were paid by Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s one-time close friend. Greenberg was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges including sex trafficking a minor and introducing the minor to other “adult men,” sources tell ABC News.

In the interviews, which have previously not been reported, some witnesses have been shown Venmo payments they allegedly received from Gaetz and asked if those payments were for sexual activities, sources said. Some of the witnesses have been subpoenaed by the committee while others have agreed to cooperate, according to the sources.

One woman, who ABC News is not identifying, told the committee that a payment from Gaetz was for sex, while others have said they were paid to attend parties that Gaetz also attended and that featured drugs and sex, multiple sources told ABC News.

Gaetz has long denied all of the allegations, including paying for sex, and previously dismissed them by claiming “someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.” The Justice Department informed Gaetz in 2023 that it was declining to bring charges against him after its years-long investigation.

The House Ethics Committee declined to comment. Florida attorney Joel Leppard of Leppard Law confirmed his client was cooperating with the committee, but declined to comment further.

The Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department earlier this year for records related to its probe into the Florida congressman. Still, the department has resisted turning over the information, sources said.

However, the committee has obtained Gaetz’s Venmo records after issuing the company a subpoena, sources tell ABC News. During the DOJ investigation into Gaetz, public reporting, including by The Daily Beast, largely focused on Venmo records from Greenberg, who according to his plea agreement used his account to “pay for commercial sex acts” with women he also introduced to others. The committee obtaining Gaetz’s records, which ABC News has not seen, could help provide Congressional investigators with a roadmap for payments the Congressman may have made while he was friends with Greenberg.

On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee provided an update on its investigation into Gaetz, detailing in a new statement on Tuesday that after speaking with over a dozen witnesses, issuing 25 subpoenas, and reviewing thousands of documents, the bipartisan panel will continue to review allegations including that the Florida congressman “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use” and that he “sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

The committee also detailed that it will no longer pursue allegations that Gaetz “may have shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe or improper gratuity.”

When reached for comment, Gaetz’s communications director pointed ABC News to the Congressman’s social media post on Monday calling the House Ethics Committee “Soviet” and stating that “every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.”

Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to multiple federal crimes, including the sex trafficking of a minor whom he admitted to introducing to other “adult men” who also had sex with her when she was underage. Justice Department investigators spent years looking into whether Gaetz was one of the men Greenberg introduced the minor to before declining to pursue charges against Gaetz in 2023.

Greenberg, who offered the Justice Department significant cooperation in its own probe, is cooperating with the House Ethics Committee probe into the Florida congressman, sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News.

At his sentencing in late 2022, Judge Gregory Persnell called Greenberg’s degree of cooperation “more than I’ve seen in 22 years.” Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in late 2022 after pleading guilty to crimes including wire fraud, stalking, and sex trafficking a minor.

Investigators have also asked multiple witnesses about a July 2017 party that ABC News first reported on. The committee obtained a sworn statement from a woman who said she attended the party in Florida that Gaetz also attended, sources said. Multiple witnesses have also told the committee that they saw Gaetz engage in illicit drug use at parties, sources said.

The committee first launched its probe into Gaetz in 2021 before putting it on hold as the Justice Department conducted its own investigation.

Russia and North Korea vow partnership as Putin praises Kim’s ‘unwavering’ support for Ukrainian war

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a partnership agreement on Wednesday in Pyongyang, further solidifying their strategic cooperation in opposition to Western leaders.

Putin in an opening statement prior to the talks thanked Kim for his “unwavering support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Their two-hour meeting came on the first full day of Putin’s official state visit, his first trip to Pyongyang in 24 years.

The negotiations in North Korea are the latest in a series of discussions about trade and economic relations between the two countries, both of which are subject to Western sanctions.

The two heads of state held face-to-face talks in eastern Russia in September, which were followed by rounds of lower-level talks in both Pyongyang and Moscow.

“As a result of your visit to Russia last year, we made much headway in developing contemporary interstate relations,” Putin said in his opening statement, according to Interfax, a Russian news agency. “A new fundamental document has been drafted to lay a long-term foundation for our relations.”

North Korean state media on Wednesday said Kim’s government was hoping the meetings would lead to “deepening economic and trade relations” with Russia.

The U.S. State Department has said North Korea has shipped arms — including dozens of ballistic missiles and more than 11,000 containers of munitions — to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. U.S. officials said it was likely that Putin would ask for further military aid while in Pyongyang.

“We have seen him get incredibly desperate over the past few months and look to Iran to rebolster the military that he’s — military equipment that he has lost in Ukraine, to look to North Korea to rearm himself,” Matthew Miller, a state department spokesperson, said during a briefing on Tuesday. “And so I’m quite certain that that is what he’s up to.”

Putin called their new agreement, which was signed prior to Wednesday’s negotiations, a “fundamental document,” promising it would be the cornerstone of a long-term relationship between the two countries, according to Interfax, the Russian news agency.

Both sought to position their two-hour meeting as an affront to the United States and its Western allies. As Putin thanked Kim for North Korea’s support for his invasion of Ukraine, he said the war was a “fight against the imperialist hegemonistic policies of the U.S. and its satellites against the Russian Federation.”

North Korea on Wednesday hosted a welcome ceremony for Putin, who had arrived late Tuesday and stayed at a state guest house overnight.

Kim had greeted Putin as he stepped off his plane at Pyongyang International Airport. The two traveled in Putin’s private vehicle, passing “through charmingly lit streets” to the guest house where Putin stayed, North Korean state media reported. The two “exchanged the inmost thoughts” as they drove, the report said.

The pair on Wednesday morning strolled through Kim Il Sung Square along a red carpet. They were greeted by throngs of North Koreans waving flowers, balloons and flags.

US soldier sentenced to Russian penal colony, local media reports

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Gordon Black, the U.S. soldier arrested in Russia on theft charges, was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly four years in a Russian penal colony, a national news agency reported.

“The Pervomaisky District Court of Vladivostok sentences Black to almost four years in a penal colony,” an Interfax correspondent reported from inside the courtroom.

Black was arrested in May. His trial had started on Monday, with Black pleading partially guilty to charges of theft, but not admitting to the charges of assault or threat to kill, according to Russian media.

The staff sergeant was stationed in South Korea and was on temporary leave when he entered Russia, two U.S. officials told ABC News in May. Black had not been granted permission to travel to Russia, the officials said.

Black’s mother, Melody Jones, told ABC News that her son had been visiting his girlfriend.

He was accused of taking money from the woman and was detained in Vladivostok — near the borders North Korea and China — on charges of criminal misconduct.

Biden administration strongly denies Netanyahu’s claim US is blocking arms shipments amid war with Hamas

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public assertion that the Biden administration is broadly withholding military support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza prompted confusion and frustration across Washington on Tuesday, as Biden administration officials flatly denied the allegations.

“We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her daily press briefing. “We just don’t.”

Netanyahu made the accusations in a video posted to X.

Speaking in English, he said he told Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the U.S. diplomat’s recent visit to Israel that it was “inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions.”

“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” he continued.

In the prime minister’s retelling of the conversation, Blinken gave assurances that the Biden administration was working “day and night” to remove “bottlenecks.”

“I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case,” Netanyahu said.

During a news conference Tuesday at the State Department, Blinken was asked for his side of the story.

While the secretary declined to confirm or deny Netanyahu’s characterization of their discussion, he repeatedly underscored the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s defense.

“It’s very important to remember that our security relationship with Israel goes well beyond Gaza. Israel is facing a multiplicity of threats and challenges including in the north, from Hezbollah, from Iran, from the Houthis in the Red Sea,” Blinken said.

He also emphasized President Joe Biden’s promise to ensure Israel has “what it needs to effectively defend itself against these threats,” arguing it was critical to avoiding greater escalation in the Middle East.

“There has been no change in our posture,” Blinken insisted, saying it was “regular order” with the exception of one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs paused over Biden’s publicly expressed concern the imprecise munitions could be used in the southern Gazan city of Rafah and other areas heavily populated by civilians.

Two officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel backed up the secretary’s comments, telling ABC News the administration is continuing to process both longstanding requests in the pipeline and new orders made after the onset of the conflict.

Although the Biden administration has faced increasing pressure from members of the president’s own party to halt military support for Israel, Blinken invoked emergency authorities twice in December to bypass congressional review and speed up arms shipments to the country.

“Since Hamas’ vicious attack on Oct. 7, we’ve rushed billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel to enable them to defend themselves,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday. “And we are going to continue to provide them the security assistance they need for defense.”

While the administration has promised it will continue to support the Israeli military, a review of U.S. defense transfers ordered by President Biden cast significant doubt on whether Israel was using American arms in compliance with international humanitarian law.

The report, which was released in May, found it was “reasonable to assess” that defense articles provided by the U.S. been used by Israeli security forces in Gaza in ways there were “inconsistent” with the country’s legal obligations or best practices for mitigating civilian harm.

Officials: 5,000 evacuated in New Mexico as two wildfires spread with 0% containment

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Approximately 5,000 people have been evacuated in New Mexico on Tuesday as crews battle two wildfires that have spread across 20,000 acres, officials said.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency as the dual South Fork Fire and Salt Fire have spread with 0% containment as of Tuesday afternoon.

Evacuation orders are in effect for three counties in the state: Mescalero, Otero and Lincoln, Grisham said during a Tuesday press conference.

Of the 5,000 people evacuated, 500 individuals are staying in 10 shelters and service centers, Grisham said.

While the exact number of homes and buildings damaged amid the blaze remains unknown as crews continue to battle the fires, Grisham estimated there have been 500 structures lost so far.

There are 17 federal and state agencies and 800 personnel on the ground working to help people amid evacuations, according to Grisham.

The governor said there are 13 wildfire hotshot crews battling the fires in addition to other fire teams.

The South Fork Fire was discovered at around 9 a.m. Monday morning on the Mescalero Reservation, west of the Village of Ruidoso, the New Mexico Forestry Division said, noting the cause of the fire remains unknown.

“Fire growth has been rapid with extreme fire behavior,” the division said.

Nearby, the Salt Fire, also in the Mescalero Reservation, is slower moving but “creeping through difficult, mountainous terrain south of Ruidoso,” fire officials said.

The Mescalero Reservation is approximately 130 miles southeast of Albuquerque

New Mexico has submitted a federal emergency disaster request, which Grisham noted should be approved within the next 24 hours.

Ten in severe or critical condition after house in Syracuse collapses in explosion: Officials

June 19, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) — An explosion at a large family’s home in Syracuse, New York, left 10 people in severe or critical condition on Tuesday night.

Around 50 firefighters responded to the residence at 205 Carbon Street around 4 p.m. ET, where they smelled a strong odor of gas and found a car underneath the collapse, Syracuse Fire Chief Michael Monds told reporters on Tuesday.

Multiple victims were found spread out around the building, Monds said. First responders sent 13 people at the scene to the hospital, 10 by ambulance, he told the media.

Six victims were found outside of the structure, the chief said. Victims sustained burns and crush injuries.

A young child was found in the car near the structure, and three others were found in void spaces inside the structure.

Authorities had searched 95% of the home Tuesday night, the chief said.

Dogs trained to search for live victims searched the home twice, and a cadaver dog is being brought in to search the home, the chief said.

Authorities believe that everyone has been accounted for.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said at a press conference that a family of seven live at the home. Another family of six was visiting the home at the time of the incident, he said.

There are no open code violations for the home, according to the mayor. The landlord is currently being interviewed by authorities.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Authorities will reconvene Wednesday morning to continue their investigation, Monds said.

National Grid responded to the scene to ensure there were no gas leaks and is working with firefighter investigators to determine the cause of the collapse. A spokesperson for the utility company told ABC News there were no reports of any gas leaks before the home collapse.

Trump planning to spend part of RNC week in Chicago — instead of Milwaukee

June 18, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is making plans to spend part of the week of the Republican National Convention in Chicago — more than an hour’s drive from where the convention itself will be taking place in Milwaukee, according to sources familiar with his plans.

Trump is expected to visit Chicago to attend a fundraiser, though details are still being finalized. A campaign official tells ABC News the former president will stay in Milwaukee to accept the Republican nomination on Thursday evening.

At one point, several officials briefed on security plans and logistical arrangements indicated Trump would likely stay overnight at his property in Chicago — Trump International Hotel and Tower — during the duration of the RNC.

After reporters — including those from ABC News, ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago, and The New York Times — reached out to the campaign to confirm logistics, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement saying, “President Trump is staying in Milwaukee.”

Trump held a campaign event in Racine, Wisconsin, on Tuesday — 30 miles south of Milwaukee — where he touched on inflation and immigration.

During his remarks, Trump said “I love Milwaukee” — a reference to that the former president allegedly called Milwaukee a “horrible city” during a closed door meeting with congressional Republicans last Thursday.

“I was the one that picked Milwaukee, I have to tell you, I was the one that picked it [for the RNC],” Trump said during his rally. “These lying people that they say, ‘oh, he doesn’t like Milwaukee.’ I love Milwaukee.”

The appearance marks Trump’s third visit to the midwestern battleground state as he tries to draw contrast with President Joe Biden.

His decision to stay in Chicago, based on personal preference, comes after his reported comments disparaging Milwaukee. Trump’s campaign disputed the characterization of his comments, and Democrats persistently amplified his words — including through a new billboard campaign in the city.

Trump’s campaign spokesperson punched back on the reports, arguing that Trump’s words were taken out of context.

“He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are,” said campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.

In another statement, the campaign wrote that it was a “total lie” that Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city.” However, they went on to add, “President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud,” suggesting he did make comments about the city, just not in the way some were interpreting it.

Biden’s campaign and other Democrats are capitalizing off Trump’s comments criticizing the host state.

ABC News’s Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim contributed to this report.

2nd-largest school district votes to ban cellphones and social media for students

June 18, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — The nation’s second-largest school district has voted to ban cellphone and social media use for over 429,000 K-12 students during school days.

The Los Angeles Unified School District board passed the ban by a vote of 5 to 2 on Tuesday morning, one day after U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy called for an immediate warning label on social media platforms in a New York Times op-ed, similar to warnings on cigarette packs mandated by Congress in the 1960s.

Jessica Quindel, a math teacher at Venice High School in the district, spoke prior to the vote and called for the proposal to pass. Quindel described the daily management of students’ use of smart cellphones as an “uphill battle” and said teachers struggled to keep the “culture” of student cellphone use under control.

“Managing student use of smartphones as a classroom teacher is now more like running a nonstop marathon. It takes a lot of energy and it’s really hard to keep up,” Quindel said.

The school district will now have to develop and present updated cellphone and social media policies within 120 days, or by the fall semester, that would forbid students by the spring semester of the 2024-2025 school year from using cellphones and social media platforms during the school day. LAUSD cited possible tactics like locked pouches, cellphone lockers or technological means and promised the policies would be “informed by best practices and by input from experts in the field, labor partners, staff, students, and parents.”

The updated policy change would also take into consideration students who use cellphones for translation and evaluate social media use for youth.

Medical experts have joined the chorus of parents, teachers and administrators raising alarm bells in recent years about social media’s negative effects on children and adolescents.

“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in his op-ed Monday, adding that teens face higher risks of anxiety and depression and had reported spending an average of nearly five hours a day on social media last summer.

Speaking with “GMA3” on Tuesday, Murthy said the proposed warning label cited in his op-ed, which would need to be approved by Congress, would be a digital label that would appear regularly when using social media.

“The exact design of it, the frequency with which it appears — that would all be determined in a scientific testing process that we would undergo after Congress authorized the label,” Murthy said. “That’s what we do with tobacco and alcohol labels, and the good news about labels is that we thankfully know from experience that these labels actually do work. In the case of tobacco labels, they are effective in increasing awareness and in changing behavior.”

LAUSD is not the first district to pass a cellphone ban for students. Others like the Manchester Public School District in Connecticut already require students to lock cellphones in secure pouches before they are allowed to get them back at the end of the school day.

In addition to school districts, lawmakers across the country have been considering how to address the mental health of youth. Legislators in New York, for instance, passed a bill earlier this month that would halt social media platforms from showing suggested posts to users under 18.

This article was updated to note the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to pass the cellphone and social media ban.

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