(NEW YORK) — Starting April 1, Twitter users who don’t subscribe to Twitter Blue are going to have to say goodbye to their blue check marks.
Recent changes implemented under Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, mean anyone who subscribes to Twitter Blue gets a blue “check” icon next to their profile. But that wasn’t always the case.
Twitter’s check marks were originally intended to verify the authenticity of prominent accounts. “Blue Checks” appear next to the names of many high-profile celebrities, politicians, journalists, activists and organizations.
“This is a person that the powers that be at Twitter decided is important in some way,” Amanda Silberling, a senior culture reporter at TechCrunch, said about the original check mark status.
In addition to cutting down on scam accounts, Silberling told ABC Audio the checks came to convey a sense of legitimacy on the platform.
“I think in some ways it is a status symbol,” said Silberling. “I was very excited when I got my blue check … people are noticing what I’m doing as a journalist, that makes me feel good.”
Hear ABC Audio’s Mike Dobuski report:
Following a revamp of Twitter Blue last year, now any user who pays a monthly subscription fee automatically gets a check mark – regardless of the relevancy of the account. For months now, new Twitter Blue subscribers enjoyed verified status alongside the “legacy” blue check accounts. But starting in April, the company said any existing blue check accounts that don’t subscribe to Twitter Blue will have to pay up – or lose the check.
“Starting April 1, 2023, we’ll begin winding down our legacy verification program,” reads Twitter’s help page. It goes on to detail the process by which users can receive a blue check. Accounts must be older than 30 days, for example. They also “may not impersonate individuals, groups or organizations to mislead, confuse or deceive others, nor use a fake identity in a manner that disrupts the experience of others on Twitter.”
Musk said charging for verification is part of an attempt to cut down on automated spam accounts, known as “bots.” In a recent tweet, Musk wrote that “paid account social media will be the only social media that matters.”
At the same time, Twitter has rolled out additional gray and gold check marks, intended to verify government and business accounts. The official White House Twitter account, for example, currently displays a gray check mark. ABC News, meanwhile, has a gold check.
But Silberling says tying blue checks to payment still leaves the door open to impersonation and misinformation on the platform.
“The blue check is essentially just going to lose its meaning,” she said, adding that users now bear more responsibility in determining which accounts are real on the platform.
“It’s always a good thing if social media users are aware of what they’re reading, and is it true,” said Silberling. “But also part of the job of social media platforms is to make it more difficult for misinformation to circulate, and I don’t think that Twitter is doing a great job of that right now.”
(NEW YORK) — Millions of people will begin to lose their health insurance on Saturday, as five states begin the unwinding of a pandemic-era protection that kept people from being removed from the Medicaid rosters.
During the public health emergency, states were required to keep people on Medicaid without the often yearly reapplication process normally in place. But now that the public health emergency is winding down, so are the Medicaid rolls.
“We’re now in a position within just a couple of days where states can begin to disenroll people — to redo their rosters for Medicaid — and this continuous coverage requirement is no longer going to be in place,” Dr. Avenel Joseph, vice president of policy for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told ABC News.
The issue that Joseph and other advocates are concerned about is that not enough people know they’re about to get kicked off their coverage.
For Jeffrey Jackson, a 62-year-old Medicaid beneficiary in Arkansas who faces losing that coverage in a matter of days, that could be a “nightmare.”
Arkansas is one of the five states that will start removing people from coverage on April 1, along with Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota and New Hampshire.
Without Medicaid, Jackson’s financial decisions would have to come down to “whether I would eat or whether I will get my medication.”
Jackson said he’ll have to meet with his doctors to ask them what medications he can do without.
“We’ll look at what’s left and then I’ll say I’ll look at the price and what I can afford or can’t afford,” Jackson told ABC News.
Despite the dire stakes, losing Medicaid is a common problem that used to happen annually before the pandemic — the average person on Medicaid got about 10 months of coverage a year, because of something called “churn,” which often occurs when bureaucratic hurdles push people out of the system for reasons as simple as missing a letter in the mail or moving.
Despite the dire stakes, losing Medicaid is a common problem that used to happen annually before the pandemic — the average person on Medicaid got about 10 months of coverage a year, because of something called “churn,” which often occurs when bureaucratic hurdles push people out of the system for reasons as simple as missing a letter in the mail or moving.
“What we’ve heard from Medicaid administrators across the states is this is the largest shifting of insurance coverage for people since the Affordable Care Act was put in place over 10 years ago,” Joseph said. “This is a massive undertaking.”
“And with that kind of movement,” Joseph said, “vulnerable people will fall through the cracks.”
(RUSSIA) — When President Joe Biden was asked Friday what his message was to Russia over the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich this week, he replied, “Let him go.”
And as has become routine, there was public outcry for the American’s release.
But how to handle what some call “hostage taking” can be much trickier to deal with than issuing simple warnings and pleas. That’s especially true when political pressure builds at home to free an individual — versus the broader national interest in not giving in to the “leverage” critics say Russia is seeking.
The process of bringing back an American detained overseas can take months or even years.
While at least 67 Americans were detained unjustly overseas as of July 2022, according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, the U.S. government will decline to get involved in many cases. However, if an American accused of breaking a law in another country is being treated or held unfairly, the United States may initiate a prisoner swap.
Here are some of the factors that could come into play if U.S. officials consider a prisoner swap to bring Gershkovich home.
Designation of detention
The U.S. is much more likely to act on behalf of citizens who are classified by the State Department as “wrongfully detained.” That designation applies to an “individual whose detention the Department of State determines tobe wrongful based on certain discretionary criteria,” according to a State Department resource guide for families of wrongful detainees.
“The first thing that I am watching for will be whether or not the State Department gives Evan that designation — whether they designate him as wrongfully detained. And that decision could come tomorrow or it could come months from now,” Dartmouth College foreign policy fellow Danielle Gilbert told ABC News.
The State Department offers no exact timeline of how long that classification process takes.
“Every wrongful detention is different, and there is no one pre-determined way to secure the safe release of a person who has been wrongfully detained overseas. … While we cannot know beforehand what series of events will lead to your loved one’s release, please know that the U.S. government will continue to work tirelessly towards the goal of reuniting you with your family member,” the department’s website says.
In the case of WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, it took months before the U.S government designated her as “wrongfully detained,” Gilbert noted.
“Months went by of gathering information to really determine whether or not there was something unjust about [Griner’s] arrest that kind of allowed the United States to get involved,” she added.
Since Gershkovich’s case is in its “very, very early days,” the process of classifying his detention and deciding what actions to take to secure his release could take a long time, according to Gilbert.
While the State Department has not classified Gershkovich, accused of espionage, as a wrongful detainee, the White House has referred to his arrest as a “detention.”
“These espionage charges are ridiculous. The targeting of American citizens by Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest — in the strongest terms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Yet, she declined to characterize the Gershkovich’s detention as a hostage situation when asked by ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos.
History of ‘hostage diplomacy’
Another factor is whether the arresting country has a history of engaging in hostage diplomacy, defined as “the taking of hostages under the guise of law for use as foreign policy leverage,” according to The Texas National Security Review.
“Given the cases we’ve seen unfold over the past several years, there are certainly reasons to imagine that this will be a case of hostage diplomacy,” Gilbert said.
In many cases, Russia holds onto individuals for an extended period of time in order to make demands of the U.S., often a prisoner swap. Most recently, President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin arranged a prisoner swap of Griner, two-time Olympic gold medalist and basketball star, for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death” due to his conviction on terrorism charges.
Griner, who was facing a nine-year sentence for bringing hash oil into Russia, was released last December after serving only nine months in a Russian prison.
The Biden administration was slammed for leaving behind Paul Whelan, a former U.S Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia for four years. Whelan, who had made several visits to Russia, was convicted of espionage by a Moscow court and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in a Russian prison.
While Gerskovich, a correspondent based in Moscow, was also arrested on espionage charges, Gilbert notes that the severity of Gershkovich’s case is still unknown.
On Thursday, the family of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine held in Russia since being arrested in 2018, notably backed the deal that led to Griner’s release, called Gershkovich’s arrest a “frame up.”
“Our family is sorry to hear that another American family will have to experience the same trauma that we have had to endure for the past 1,553 days. It sounds as though the frame up of Mr. Gershkovich was the same as it was in Paul’s case,” wrote David Whelan, Paul Whelan’s twin brother.
While David Whelan said he appreciates the Biden administration’s efforts, he urged the president to ramp up efforts to secure his brother’s release.
Willingness to negotiate
Prisoner swaps require the cooperation of both countries. Former CIA officer John Woodward notes that while family members are justified in calling on administration for help and awareness, oftentimes, the White House cannot act immediately as it awaits signals of the other country’s willingness to negotiate.
Woodward says Greshkovich’s case is “nothing new,” referencing Putin’s history of wrongfully capturing American journalists. Woodward believes Putin sees potential prisoner swaps as a “useful tool” in retrieving Russians who have been detained in the United States.
“We’ll have to see what kind of feelers the Russians put out. As far as what kind of a swap they might be interested in,” he said.
While Woodward speculates that “there will be some type of a swap that would be negotiated” based on who Putin might be willing to trade for, there is no sense of urgency from Russian leadership on this matter. And the waiting could be painful for Gershkovich.
“I don’t really expect any kind of benign attitude from the Russian government toward the Wall Street Journal reporter, unfortunately,” Woodward added.
Gilbert noted that despite tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the Biden administration has been successful in bringing home many Americans unjustly detained overseas.
“I personally believe that this administration is committed to working on these cases. I mean, they have a tremendous track record of success. They’ve brought home dozens of Americans over the last year and a half from countries all around the world,” said Gilbert.
“From my perspective, it’s not a question of willingness to make these efforts. It’s whether or not the foreign government is willing to accept. And so you know, just remembering who, who the perpetrator is here,” she added.
Impact of news media coverage
Since Griner’s return, experts have noted the impact of news media attention in these situations.
“It was fortunate that [Griner] was much more of a celebrity and I think that helped galvanize a lot of influential people to support our cause. Whereas, I think Paul Whelan didn’t have quite that kind of expensive backing,” Woodward said. “I think it definitely helped her case. Oh, I think there’s no doubt about it.”
Earlier this month, Iran’s longest-held American prisoner made a personal plea to Biden to prioritize efforts to secure his release
“I remain deeply worried that the White House just doesn’t appreciate how dire our situation has become,” said Siamak Namazi, speaking by phone with Christiane Amanpour in an unprecedented live interview with CNN from inside Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
Namazi’s family has repeatedly called on Biden and Congress to bring him and other Iranian prisoners home. So far, they say they have not been contacted by the Biden administration.
Gilbert says there has been serious debate about whether such media coverage is a net positive or negative.
“There is, I think, a reasonable concern that raising media attention to cases of Americans arrested overseas will make the prisoners seem more valuable, and therefore increase leverage or get our adversaries to dig their heels and to hold on to someone for longer. I think that that’s increasingly a minority opinion. And many more people think that the advocacy is crucial internally in the United States, and irrelevant internationally,” said Gilbert.
“Vladimir Putin is not making his decisions based on whether or not the U.S. media is covering something. He just assumes it will be effective anyway,” she added.
(RUSSIA) — When President Joe Biden was asked Friday what his message was to Russia over the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich this week, he replied, “Let him go.”
And as has become routine, there was public outcry for the American’s release.
But how to handle what some call “hostage taking” can be much trickier to deal with than issuing simple warnings and pleas. That’s especially true when political pressure builds at home to free an individual — versus the broader national interest in not giving in to the “leverage” critics say Russia is seeking.
The process of bringing back an American detained overseas can take months or even years.
While at least 67 Americans were detained unjustly overseas as of July 2022, according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, the U.S. government will decline to get involved in many cases. However, if an American accused of breaking a law in another country is being treated or held unfairly, the United States may initiate a prisoner swap.
Here are some of the factors that could come into play if U.S. officials consider a prisoner swap to bring Gershkovich home.
****************Designation of detention
The U.S. is much more likely to act on behalf of citizens who are classified by the State Department as “wrongfully detained.” That designation applies to an “individual whose detention the Department of State determines tobe wrongful based on certain discretionary criteria,” according to a State Department resource guide for families of wrongful detainees.
“The first thing that I am watching for will be whether or not the State Department gives Evan that designation — whether they designate him as wrongfully detained. And that decision could come tomorrow or it could come months from now,” Dartmouth College foreign policy fellow Danielle Gilbert told ABC News.
The State Department offers no exact timeline of how long that classification process takes.
“Every wrongful detention is different, and there is no one pre-determined way to secure the safe release of a person who has been wrongfully detained overseas. … While we cannot know beforehand what series of events will lead to your loved one’s release, please know that the U.S. government will continue to work tirelessly towards the goal of reuniting you with your family member,” the department’s website says.
In the case of WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, it took months before the U.S government designated her as “wrongfully detained,” Gilbert noted.
“Months went by of gathering information to really determine whether or not there was something unjust about [Griner’s] arrest that kind of allowed the United States to get involved,” she added.
Since Gershkovich’s case is in its “very, very early days,” the process of classifying his detention and deciding what actions to take to secure his release could take a long time, according to Gilbert.
While the State Department has not classified Gershkovich, accused of espionage, as a wrongful detainee, the White House has referred to his arrest as a “detention.”
“These espionage charges are ridiculous. The targeting of American citizens by Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest — in the strongest terms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Yet, she declined to characterize the Gershkovich’s detention as a hostage situation when asked by ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos.
********************History of ‘hostage diplomacy’
Another factor is whether the arresting country has a history of engaging in hostage diplomacy, defined as “the taking of hostages under the guise of law for use as foreign policy leverage,” according to The Texas National Security Review.
“Given the cases we’ve seen unfold over the past several years, there are certainly reasons to imagine that this will be a case of hostage diplomacy,” Gilbert said.
In many cases, Russia holds onto individuals for an extended period of time in order to make demands of the U.S., often a prisoner swap. Most recently, President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin arranged a prisoner swap of Griner, two-time Olympic gold medalist and basketball star, for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death” due to his conviction on terrorism charges.
Griner, who was facing a nine-year sentence for bringing hash oil into Russia, was released last December after serving only nine months in a Russian prison.
The Biden administration was slammed for leaving behind Paul Whelan, a former U.S Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia for four years. Whelan, who had made several visits to Russia, was convicted of espionage by a Moscow court and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in a Russian prison.
While Gerskovich, a correspondent based in Moscow, was also arrested on espionage charges, Gilbert notes that the severity of Gershkovich’s case is still unknown.
On Thursday, the family of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine held in Russia since being arrested in 2018, notably backed the deal that led to Griner’s release, called Gershkovich’s arrest a “frame up.”
“Our family is sorry to hear that another American family will have to experience the same trauma that we have had to endure for the past 1,553 days. It sounds as though the frame up of Mr. Gershkovich was the same as it was in Paul’s case,” wrote David Whelan, Paul Whelan’s twin brother.
While David Whelan said he appreciates the Biden administration’s efforts, he urged the president to ramp up efforts to secure his brother’s release.
**********************Willingness to negotiate
Prisoner swaps require the cooperation of both countries. Former CIA officer John Woodward notes that while family members are justified in calling on administration for help and awareness, oftentimes, the White House cannot act immediately as it awaits signals of the other country’s willingness to negotiate.
Woodward says Greshkovich’s case is “nothing new,” referencing Putin’s history of wrongfully capturing American journalists. Woodward believes Putin sees potential prisoner swaps as a “useful tool” in retrieving Russians who have been detained in the United States.
“We’ll have to see what kind of feelers the Russians put out. As far as what kind of a swap they might be interested in,” he said.
While Woodward speculates that “there will be some type of a swap that would be negotiated” based on who Putin might be willing to trade for, there is no sense of urgency from Russian leadership on this matter. And the waiting could be painful for Gershkovich.
“I don’t really expect any kind of benign attitude from the Russian government toward the Wall Street Journal reporter, unfortunately,” Woodward added.
Gilbert noted that despite tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the Biden administration has been successful in bringing home many Americans unjustly detained overseas.
“I personally believe that this administration is committed to working on these cases. I mean, they have a tremendous track record of success. They’ve brought home dozens of Americans over the last year and a half from countries all around the world,” said Gilbert.
“From my perspective, it’s not a question of willingness to make these efforts. It’s whether or not the foreign government is willing to accept. And so you know, just remembering who, who the perpetrator is here,” she added.
************************Impact of news media coverage
Since Griner’s return, experts have noted the impact of news media attention in these situations.
“It was fortunate that [Griner] was much more of a celebrity and I think that helped galvanize a lot of influential people to support our cause. Whereas, I think Paul Whelan didn’t have quite that kind of expensive backing,” Woodward said. “I think it definitely helped her case. Oh, I think there’s no doubt about it.”
Earlier this month, Iran’s longest-held American prisoner made a personal plea to Biden to prioritize efforts to secure his release
“I remain deeply worried that the White House just doesn’t appreciate how dire our situation has become,” said Siamak Namazi, speaking by phone with Christiane Amanpour in an unprecedented live interview with CNN from inside Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
Namazi’s family has repeatedly called on Biden and Congress to bring him and other Iranian prisoners home. So far, they say they have not been contacted by the Biden administration.
Gilbert says there has been serious debate about whether such media coverage is a net positive or negative.
“There is, I think, a reasonable concern that raising media attention to cases of Americans arrested overseas will make the prisoners seem more valuable, and therefore increase leverage or get our adversaries to dig their heels and to hold on to someone for longer. I think that that’s increasingly a minority opinion. And many more people think that the advocacy is crucial internally in the United States, and irrelevant internationally,” said Gilbert.
“Vladimir Putin is not making his decisions based on whether or not the U.S. media is covering something. He just assumes it will be effective anyway,” she added.
(NEW YORK) — As the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to fade in the rearview mirror, public health departments are already preparing for the next threat, noting that they have built better operational infrastructure, but caution that budget cutbacks and a health care worker shortage may be putting the country at risk.
The World Health Organization has warned that the accelerating pace of climate change, deforestation and globalization means that it isn’t a matter of if, but when the next pandemic will strike. Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local health departments were forced to grapple with yet another emergency last summer, with the emergence of the monkeypox (now known as mpox), outbreak.
At least 13 state health departments and 11 hospital associations told ABC News that chronic staffing shortages and new threats to funding may undermine their ability to swiftly respond to future pandemic threats.
“Without the personnel to do the hard work of analyzing data, interviewing cases, tracing contacts, testing specimens, and performing other essential public health activities, our nation is less prepared in some ways than it was before 2020,” Dr. Jay Varma, director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response told ABC News.
The American Hospital Association has called federal lawmakers to reauthorize the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act to strengthen the Strategic National Stockpile, to fund the Hospital Preparedness Program, and require more collaboration between the federal government and stakeholders to build national data infrastructure.
Health care worker shortage
After a grueling three years caring for patients on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses continue to leave the health care sector en masse, according to state health departments and state hospital associations, sparking widespread shortages nationwide that states warn may lead to an inability to care for patients during a new outbreak.
Before the pandemic, Georgia was already dealing with a nursing staffing shortage. Now, with not enough nurses graduating in the state, the governor has created a statewide healthcare workforce commission to increase the hospital workforce, according to Anna Adams, the executive vice president, external affairs of the Georgia Hospital Association, a nonprofit trade group.
Part of the issue, health and hospital association officials from several states told ABC News, was the recurring cycle of worker shortages leading to increased labor costs – with turnover driving higher expenses to hire and recruit new staff.
“Now, nurses and others are leaving health care altogether, to companies that have signing bonuses and very high hourly rates. And so all of a sudden, hospitals are in a position where the only way we’re going to have an adequate nursing force is to work with the nurse traveler agencies,” said Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
In addition, some hospitals are experiencing negative profit margins, making less money in relation to their own expenses compared to before the pandemic. California health officials, for example, noted that over half of hospitals in the state already had unsustainable margins before the pandemic. This worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic as the state’s total hospital expenses rose 15% in just one year. According to state officials, California hospitals are losing money on operations.
Funding in flux
Early in the COVID crisis, as case counts exploded and deaths began to creep up, public health departments received hundreds of billions of dollars in funding from the federal government to support their work. But most of that money was earmarked to respond to the emergency — not to shore up public health permanently. Now, many are warning that the flood of money could transition to a trickle without renewal of some of the federal funds, which could lead them to cut contractual employees and reduce some of their initiatives.
“Funding comes in on specific diseases,” said Susan Kansagra, North Carolina’s state health officer. “When that disease goes away, funding goes away. We’re left rebuilding.”
Most state public health departments significantly expanded their workforce in the early days of the pandemic, and they have larger staffs now than in 2019. But many of those hires were temporary positions, including some epidemiologists and behavioral scientists. Washington, for example, stated that even now, 30% of its current workforce were in time-limited positions.
There is also high turnover in the public health sector. The Virginia Department of Health noted that about a third of its workforce had minimal work experience prior to 2019, whereas now 40% has less than two years of know-how on the job. Many experienced public health workers left their jobs in the past few years, often because of the political blowback and pressures from far-right groups opposed to things like masks and vaccines, state health officials told ABC News.
While most state health officials interviewed by ABC News shared they may need to tighten their ranks amid lower funding support, some felt confident in being able to revamp their workforce should another crisis arise.
“The takeaway for us is that we have worked through rapid hiring, onboarding, and training processes, so that we could do it again if needed,” the Utah Department of Health and Human Services said to ABC News in a statement.
There is also high turnover in the public health sector. The Virginia Department of Health noted that about a third of its workforce had minimal work experience prior to 2019, whereas now 40% has less than two years of know-how on the job. Many experienced public health workers left their jobs in the past few years, often because of the political blowback and pressures from far-right groups opposed to things like masks and vaccines, state health officials told ABC News.
While most state health officials interviewed by ABC News shared they may need to tighten their ranks amid lower funding support, some felt confident in being able to revamp their workforce should another crisis arise.
“The takeaway for us is that we have worked through rapid hiring, onboarding, and training processes, so that we could do it again if needed,” the Utah Department of Health and Human Services said to ABC News in a statement.
Identifying the next threat
With the rise of at-home tests and dwindling contact-tracing programs, public health departments have shifted their attention to different methods of identifying where COVID-19 is spreading most and detecting any new diseases that may pose a threat.
Wastewater has become a key tool for epidemiologists to quickly identify where pockets of the community may be experiencing a greater number of COVID-19 cases than usual. Most state health departments contacted by ABC News noted they had integrated a wastewater surveillance system and were tracking old and new threats.
Nevada officials shared that the state built “a viral respiratory surveillance program to expand upon influenza surveillance efforts to help understand what respiratory viruses are circulating, the magnitude of these viruses within communities, and the overall severity of the viral illnesses” with a team set to monitor data for early detection for potential surges.
Most states also developed dashboards to inform the public of case numbers and hospitalizations statistics as well as avenues to collect vaccine data or notify contacts of someone sick of an exposure. Those tools are in place and ready for future disease threats, so health department wouldn’t have to start from scratch.
“We’ve created forums for sharing information throughout the three years to ensure that we can continue to respond to COVID-19, and also that we will be ready in the future,” said Nicole Stallings, chief external affairs officer at the Maryland Hospital Association.
Experience counts, say health departments
State health department officials reached by ABC News overwhelmingly said their experience responding to COVID-19 means they are better prepared to react to a new health threat than in 2019.
“We’re better trained, better staff, better equipped and managed, more responsive, and experienced personnel, our information systems are much more robust. So, I think, at this point, and recognizing that all capabilities atrophied over time, but at this point, we’re much better prepared than we were in 2019,” said Robert Mauskapf, director of the office of emergency preparedness at the Virginia Department of Health.
Still, some public health experts remained skeptical, noting that budget and staffing problems — and even cultural shifts — will make it harder to respond to future threats.
Many states, for example, have passed or are considering laws that would prohibit mask mandates or vaccine requirements — both tools that helped protect people against the spread of COVID-19.
So even though health departments know the strategies that helped during the COVID-19 pandemic, they might not have the ability to implement them as successfully going forward.
“Federal, state, and local health departments have far fewer personnel today than they did before [the pandemic]. This is a consequence of public health staff being chronically over-worked and underpaid, public health officials being verbally attacked on social media, including by elected officials, and a broad national narrative that public health is somehow incompetent,” Varma said.
ABC’s John Brownstein, Ph.D., Sony Salzman, John Santucci, Nicole Wetsman, Emma Egan, Sara Avery, Alexandra Myers and Soorin Kim contributed to this report.
(FLORIDA)– Three people were killed and two were injured when a car lost control and slammed into a tree in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday, according to the Daytona Beach Fire Department.
All five people were in the same car.
The three deceased died instantly, according to the fire department. One victim had been ejected from the car, officials said. The two people injured were rushed to the hospital as a trauma alert.
Police shut down the road where the crash happened to conduct their investigation, and the roadway has since been reopened.
The fire department said the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Encircled by camera-wielding supporters and journalists, Chris Smalls popped a bottle of champagne one year ago today to celebrate a watershed election that established the first-ever U.S. union at Amazon — but the celebratory times for the union wouldn’t last.
Smalls, a former warehouse worker at the company’s facility in Staten Island, New York, and the president of the Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, launched the campaign alongside his co-workers, raising money on GoFundMe as they sought improved pay, benefits and working conditions at the facility.
The independent union overcame well-resourced opposition from the company and helped propel a surge of labor organizing across the country, some experts said.
However, the ALU encountered difficulties almost immediately. In the months following the victory, labor campaigns were defeated overwhelmingly in elections at two other Amazon warehouses in New York.
Meanwhile, sharp divisions emerged within the ALU, according to interviews with four current and former workers at the Staten Island facility.
Amazon has also mounted an ongoing legal challenge against the results of the union election, leaving the labor organization far from signing a collective bargaining agreement that it hopes will deliver a base pay of $30 per hour and other improvements at the facility.
The New York Times first reported on the divisions within the ALU.
“No matter how it ends, this was a significant moment,” Joshua Freeman, a professor emeritus of labor history at Queens College at the City University of New York. “It contributed to a wave of union organization efforts all over the country.”
“Obviously, there have been a lot of bumps in the road since a year ago,” Freeman added.
In a statement to ABC News, Amazon Spokesperson Eileen Hards said the company respects workers’ right to unionize but it contests the results of the election last year at the Staten Island warehouse, also known as JFK8.
“Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union,” Hards said. “They always have.”
“We strongly disagree with the outcome, and as we showed throughout the JFK8 Objections Hearing with dozens of witnesses and hundreds of pages of documents, both the NLRB and the ALU improperly influenced the outcome of the election and we don’t believe it represents what the majority of our team wants,” she added.
“They appeal everything and we continue to fight that legal battle,” Smalls told ABC News about Amazon’s ongoing challenges to the union vote. “It’s been ruling in our favor and we don’t see it reversing the other way.”
The headline-grabbing union victory at Amazon last April accelerated an upsurge of labor organizing that took hold nationwide during the pandemic, as a tight job market and sky-high prices helped fuel activism among workers at high-profile companies like Starbucks and Apple.
Over a yearlong period ending in September, petitions for union representation jumped 53%, NLRB data showed. Moreover, last year labor unions reached their highest level of public support across the U.S. since 1965, a Gallup poll showed.
“Amazon workers took the brave step to unionize a year ago,” said Seth Goldstein, a partner at Julien, Mirer, Singla, & Goldstein who represents the ALU. “No one thought that was possible.”
After the union victory, however, Amazon filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to overturn the outcome, including allegations that NLRB officials showed a favorable bias toward the workers and that union leaders bribed colleagues in an effort to win their support.
“Amazon’s abuse of the legal process is simply a stalling tactic that is meant to delay our negotiations and cause workers to lose faith in the process,” the ALU said about the allegations in September.
So far, those legal challenges by Amazon have failed. In September, a hearing officer for the NLRB recommended that the vote should stand. A few months later, in January, the NLRB officially certified the ALU, putting Amazon under a legal obligation to bargain in good faith. Amazon appealed the ruling.
Goldstein said he is confident the ALU will ultimately overcome the legal challenge. However, the court battle has delayed the start of negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement between workers and management. And even after negotiations begin, the back-and-forth could stretch on for more than a year before a contract is signed, he added.
“We all knew that this would unfortunately get bogged down,” he said. “I’m not surprised — I’m saddened.”
Such delay is typical for a first union contract, but it can fray labor solidarity, some experts said. The average length of time before a new union signs its first contract is 409 days, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis in 2021.
“It’s hard to keep a group together if you’re not improving their lives in a concrete way,” said Freeman, of the City University of New York. “You can do it for a while but at some point people roll their eyes.”
While the ALU fights Amazon in court, the union also aims to put pressure on the company through organizing within the Staten Island facility and building support among workers at other warehouses as well as leaders within the wider labor movement, Goldstein said.
However, the visible presence of union support within the Staten Island warehouse has diminished significantly since the victory last year, according to three longtime workers at the facility.
“Right after the election, there were about a dozen people I saw on the first floor wearing ALU t-shirts and yellow ‘organizer’ vests,” Natalie Monarrez, a worker who considers herself pro-union and initially organized with the ALU but ultimately voted against unionization due to concerns regarding its leadership, told ABC News.
“In the past few months, I haven’t seen any ALU t-shirts or yellow vests,” she added.
Smalls, who has traveled nationwide over the past year to speaking engagements and meetings with Amazon workers at other warehouses, has received criticism from some union activists over a perceived lack of focus on organizing within the Staten Island facility, he said.
“Whenever I’m in town, I meet with workers. I can’t organize with them inside the building. I can’t hold their hands,” Smalls, who was terminated by Amazon in 2020, said. “The requirement of any union president is to travel and amplify the workers. That’s exactly what I do.”
Smalls was fired after being accused of violating COVID-19 safety protocols, but he has alleged retaliation. Amazon denied that retribution played a role in the firing and said Smalls had received “multiple warnings” for violating social distancing guidelines.
Another sharp divide within the union centers on the governance structure that underlies its decision-making and leadership.
An initial version of the union’s constitution, filed with the Department of Labor last June, ordered that the first union elections should take place 60 days after certification of the union, a step that precedes contract negotiations; or in 2024 if the union had yet to be certified by then, according to the document.
However, a new version of the constitution, filed in December, pushed an initial election back to 90 days after the union signs its first contract, the document said. The union may not sign a contract for more than a year, leaving officers, like Smalls, in their current positions without risk of an election challenge.
At a union meeting in December, Smalls offered attendees an ultimatum regarding the new version of the constitution. “If you can’t organize by this structure and this document, this ain’t for you,” he said. “This is the law from here on out.” Some members walked out of the meeting in protest.
When asked about the meeting, Smalls said: “No one is above the constitution, including me. They don’t want to follow the rules — there’s the door. They chose the door.”
Nicole Druda, who began working at the Staten Island facility in 2021, said she voted against unionization in part because she had become disenchanted by a union that represented her at a previous job. But she said she spoke to an ALU organizer in November and began supporting the union this year.
“I really want something that will benefit me as an employee,” she said. “And as somebody who wants to be more politically active, this could help workers in general across the country get more of a voice.”
Smalls said he expects the union to reach an agreement with Amazon on a first contract within the next year.
“I don’t want to do this forever,” he added. “I’ve been laser focused on this. The only thing I have is a contract in my vision — nothing more, nothing less. A contract for the workers so we can move on to the next thing.”
(ARKANSAS) — At least 18 people are dead across six states and dozens have been hospitalized after a tornado outbreak moved through the Midwest and South on Friday night, according to local officials and The Associated Press.
Dozens of tornadoes were reported across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, but the exact number of confirmed tornadoes has yet to be verified. More than 28 million people across the South and Midwest were under a tornado watch going into Friday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Of the 18 people who have died, five were in Arkansas, three died in Indiana, one died in Illinois, one died in Alabama and one died in Mississippi, local officials told ABC News. Adamsville, Tennessee, Mayor David Leckner told The Associated Press that seven people have died in McNairy County.
There were 57 tornado reports across a huge area spanning seven states over the past 24 hours. The number of tornado reports continues to rise as of Saturday morning, as the storm threat is ongoing.
Arkansas
At least one person died and more than 50 people across Pulaski County, Arkansas, have been hospitalized, with that number expected to rise, Madeline Roberts, a spokeswoman for the county’s emergency management agency, told ABC News. She did not have information on the conditions of those who have been injured.
Four people have been pronounced dead in the northeastern Arkansas city of Wynne, which took a direct hit from a tornado. Miles Kimble, the coroner of neighboring St. Francis County, who was assisting in Wynne, confirmed the death toll to ABC News.
A tornado emergency had been issued for metro Little Rock, Arkansas, on Friday afternoon, due to the threat of a damaging tornado and quarter-sized hail.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said 24 people have been hospitalized, and that he’s “not aware of any fatalities in Little Rock at this time.”
“Property damage is extensive and we are still responding,” he tweeted.
According to Scott, 2,100 residents were impacted in western and southern Little Rock and between 27,000 to 30,000 homes are without power on Saturday.
“Many folks have been displaced and looking for a shelter. We’re working towards that, again, if someone’s in need of shelter, we’re asking you to go to Hall High School,” Scott said.
Capt. Jacob Lear-Sadowsky with the Little Rock Fire Department told ABC News earlier that there were a “significant” number of injuries from the storm.
One hospital in the area told ABC News that it’s on standby for a potential “influx of patients” but didn’t have a number of those admitted yet.
Damage is centered in West Little Rock, where “multiple structures,” both commercial and residential, have been destroyed, Lear-Sadowsky said. Power lines and trees are also downed and cars have been flipped over due to the storm.
The city of Little Rock urged on Twitter that residents should “remain in their homes” so emergency personnel can get to work.
As the powerful supercell moved eastward, a “confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” was located around 5:13 p.m. local time near Earle, Arkansas, west of Memphis, the NWS said, calling it a “life-threatening situation.” A “catastrophic” tornado also moved through the metro area of Little Rock, Arkansas, the NWS confirmed.
Significant damage is being reported in nearby Wynne, Arkansas, located roughly 50 miles west of Memphis. The city’s mayor, Jennifer Hobbs, told ABC News they have experienced “major damage” and that she believes people are trapped but could not estimate a number.
“We’re still trying to get crews out and make sure we don’t have people trapped and continue to assess the damage,” Hobbs said, adding that the tornado split the city of more than 8,000 people in half.
New video shows a “catastrophic” tornado churning through metro Little Rock, Arkansas, amid a significant tornado outbreak in the South, according to the NWS. https://t.co/5Sv7gwgqxppic.twitter.com/n7CJMWy99q
“We had no idea that it would be this much damage that we’re seeing right now at this point,” Latricia Woodruff, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management, told ABC News Live Prime on Friday about the tornado activity in the state. “There’s a lot of homes that have been damaged, other structures. We heard about a fire station here in Little Rock that had some damage to it, as well.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency due to Friday’s severe weather and activated the National Guard to assist state and local law enforcement. She said there was “significant damage” in central Arkansas due to the storm.
“Arkansans must continue to stay weather aware as storms are continuing to move through,” Sanders tweeted.
Sanders spoke with President Joe Biden on Saturday, saying Biden and Homeland Security have “offered a tremendous amount of support.”
“Anything that Arkansas needs, they have assured us that those resources will be here and on the ground,” she said during a press conference Saturday.
1 dead after roof of Illinois theater collapses
In Illinois, a 50-year-old man died after a roof collapse at the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, officials said, and at least 28 more were transported to the hospital.
Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle could not immediately confirm the cause of the roof’s collapse but said officials were notified by the National Weather Service of a tornado warning at 7:45 p.m. local time. The roof collapsed about 10 minutes later, he said.
The tornado emergencies come as rare high-risk tornado warnings were issued Friday for parts of six states — Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee — as a major storm leaves millions in the Heartland at risk for severe weather, including potentially violent, long-track tornadoes.
Bidens visited Rolling Fork, Mississippi, hit by storms last weekend
Among those at risk for tornadoes was an area that was hit by deadly storms last weekend. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited one of those locations — Rolling Fork, Mississippi — on Friday.
“Jill and I are here to show our support,” Biden said during remarks in the town on Friday, standing amid the destruction. “I know there’s a lot of pain and it’s hard to believe in a moment like this, this community’s going to be rebuilt, and rebuilt back better than it was before.”
Nearly two dozen people were killed in the storms.
Saturday forecast as storm system moves into Northeast
The storm system moves into the Northeast on Saturday with some severe weather possible for Pennsylvania and upstate New York and even northern New Jersey.
A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York until 6 p.m. ET for nearly 10 million people, with damaging winds up to 70 mph being the biggest threat. Large hail up to 1.5 inches and an isolated tornado are also possible, according to meteorologists.
The wind threat was upgraded for Saturday into the evening, with all New York City boroughs, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at an enhanced risk for damaging wind.
There is a wintry part to the storm, with blizzard warnings issued for South Dakota and Minnesota, where more than half a foot of snow and 45 mph wind gusts are possible. Whiteout conditions are expected. A winter storm warning stretches from Nebraska to Minneapolis and into Wisconsin and Michigan, where more than a foot of snow is possible.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Jianna Cousin, Matt Foster, Robinson Perez and Kenton Gewecke contributed to this report.
(ILLINOIS) — One person died and dozens were injured after the roof of a historic theater in Illinois collapsed during a suspected tornado Friday night, officials said.
More than 40 people were injured in the incident at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, which was hosting a heavy metal concert at the time, officials said. Among those transported via ambulance from the venue were two with life-threatening injuries, two with severe injuries, 18 with moderate injuries and five with minor injuries, according to Dan Zaccard, emergency management director for Boone County.
A 50-year-old man wearing a concert T-shirt was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
More than 200 people were inside the venue at the time of the roof collapse, Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle said during a press briefing Saturday morning.
“Luckily due to the response and all the first responders and the bystanders helping assist everybody out, I believe the conditions could have been much worse,” Schadle said. “We are very fortunate in certain situations. It is still a tragedy.”
There are no reports of anyone missing, officials said.
The theater was in a path of a suspected tornado that also severely damaged buildings, downed trees and flipped vehicles, Zaccard said. A tornado siren went off at 7:24 p.m. local time; at 7:47 p.m., there were reports of the roof collapse, he said.
Officers responding to the incident were greeted with “absolute chaos” inside the building, Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woodley said.
First responders were conducting triage at the scene, and those attending the concert helped remove debris from victims, officials said.
“There was a concerted effort by a lot of concertgoers, bystanders, to help each other and that did help us a lot,” Zaccard told reporters during the press briefing.
The Apollo Theatre and a building nearby have been condemned due to the damage, Zaccard said.
The theater, which was built more than 100 years ago, is a historic site and “centerpiece” of the northern Illinois city, Schadle said.
“It’s something we’re proud of here,” said Schadle, who said that structural engineers would be coming to the site Saturday to “see if it can be salvageable.”
Belvidere Mayor Clinton Morris said the theater was the “city’s brand.”
“It is significant with our downtown history,” he told reporters during the briefing.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday night he was “closely monitoring” the incident.
“I’ve been in touch with officials for updates and to direct any available resources we can,” he wrote.
The band Morbid Angel, which was performing at the Apollo Theatre, warned anyone still traveling to the venue to seek shelter.
“We are currently sheltering in place, and want to extend our support and hope that everyone at the show tonight is safe,” the band said in a Facebook post Friday night. “Right now our focus is on making sure everyone in the venue tonight is ok and gets home.”
A tornado watch was in effect for the Boone County area from 2:30 p.m. through 10 p.m. local time Friday. A tornado warning was subsequently issued from 7:23 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. local time.
When asked whether there was any discussion about postponing Friday night’s concert due to the severe weather threat, Schadle said he could not speak on behalf of the Apollo Theatre but said that the fire department had extra staffing.
The deadly incident occurred amid a significant tornado outbreak in the Midwest and South. Dozens of tornadoes were reported across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, but the exact number of confirmed tornadoes has yet to be verified.
More than 28 million people across the South and Midwest were under a tornado watch going into Friday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Lana Del Rey‘s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd has debuted at #1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart.
Not only that, the record had the bestselling first week of any album released in the U.K. so far this year, beating out Pink‘s Trustfall.
Ocean Blvd is Del Rey’s ninth studio effort and her sixth to hit #1 across the pond. She now has the fifth-most #1 U.K. albums for a female solo artist, behind only Madonna, Taylor Swift, Kylie Minogue and Barbra Streisand.
In the U.S., Del Rey has topped the Billboard 200 twice, with 2014’s Ultraviolence and 2017’s Lust for Life.
The U.K. debut caps an eventful week for Del Rey, who, according to a Billboard report published Tuesday, is now engaged.
Bring Me the Horizon teases new music in a new video recapping the band’s recent European tour.
In between live and backstage footage and interviews with fans, we get a brief look at Oli Sykes and company working on fresh material, including one song with the lyric “Stupid medicine/ not doing anything.”
The video also features Bring Me the Horizon meeting Rammstein‘s Till Lindemann while in Germany.
“Our ’23 European tour kicked off in Germany,” the description reads. “We met [Lindemann] in Berlin and he gave us booze. Continued work on a new song. Excited to be back on the road.”
