(NEW YORK) — Passengers taking to the skies for Labor Day weekend will have a new tool to help make sure their trips are smooth — even if there’s problems with their flight.
The U.S. Department of Transportation debuted its airline customer service dashboard on Thursday, which details airlines’ “commitments” to passengers in the event of “controllable” cancellations and delays within the airline’s control, such as mechanical or staffing issues.
The dashboard also offers a breakdown of how some of the carriers will help customers in those events, such as rebooking, or offering meal and hotel vouchers.
“Passengers deserve transparency and clarity on what to expect from an airline when there is a cancellation or disruption,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a release.
“This dashboard collects that information in one place so travelers can easily understand their rights, compare airline practices and make informed decisions. The Department will continue to support passengers and to hold airlines responsible for adhering to their customer obligations,” he added.
According to the release, Buttigieg wrote a letter to airline CEOs that informed them of the plan to publish the dashboard before Labor Day, encouraging them to improve their customer service plans and, by default, offering flyers a place to compare carriers.
Ari Lennox is embracing self-love with her upcoming sophomore album, Age/Sex/Location.
According to a text message shared by J. Cole, whose label the “Pressure singer” is signed to, she opened up about what the album means for her.
“I asked Ari what this new album means to her. I needed to know cuz I f*** with it so heavy,” he captioned the Instagram post of Ari’s text.
In the lengthy text, Ari expressed that Age/Sex/Location, which is due out on September 9, explores the lessons she’s learned in dating and the journey to self-love.
“Transitional space. Very vulnerable codependent and validation seeking part of my life,” she wrote. “I remember the countless times I was kicked out of dating apps because they didn’t think I was really myself, it reminded me of those age/sex/location days where I actually wasn’t being myself in those chat rooms.”
The 31-year-old singer went on to say that she spent “so much time seeing to god and good in some abusive people” which resulted in her “neglecting [her] needs and self worth.”
“No more tip toeing,” she continued. “Providing grace and compassion to myself. Blocking those that no longer serve me or just literally not responding… Allowing accountability and maturing. Allowing growth to happen. Allowing self worth and self love and inner work to happen. Allowing therapy. Allowing dating me to happen.”
Ari concluded, “What’s for me is for me and I’m complete on my own. This is my eat love pray journey. And it’s my honest goodbye to searching for love. I got it right here inside of me. The end of searching for anything other than self love and family. Pouring into me and giving the greatest love to me.”
(NEW YORK) — The start of a new school year is a time for new learning, new schedules and new teachers and friends.
Unfortunately, it can also be a time for new illnesses as kids return to spending time inside classrooms.
This school year is also the third consecutive year to take place during the coronavirus pandemic, which is still present even as kids return to school in-person.
ABC News’ Good Morning America spoke with school nurses at schools across the country for their tips to ensuring kids have a great and healthy school year.
Read their tips below:
1. Make sure your child is up-to-date on vaccinations.
“Please, please vaccinate your children for COVID and all other vaccine-preventable childhood illnesses,” said Robin Cogan, a school nurse in Camden, New Jersey. “We have taken a bit of a backslide on vaccinations for our children, we can reverse that negative trend this school year.”
COVID-19 vaccines are now available for all children ages 6 months and older.
Holly Giovi, a school nurse in Suffolk County, New York, said parents should also make sure their children are up to date on doctor appointments and annual screenings with specialists like the dentist and optometrist.
“COVID is still here and so are many other childhood illnesses, such as the new news we are hearing about polio numbers rising in upstate New York,” she said. “So please keep up with all your doctor appointments and immunizations.”
2. Keep your child home if they don’t feel well.
“Fevers over 100.4 is one indication of not feeling well. Congestion with an excessively runny nose is another example,” said Cogan. “Keep your children home until they are fever-free, or free from other common ailments, like vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.”
Sandi Braymer, a school nurse in Salem, New York, said it’s important to keep kids to a bedtime on school nights, with limited technology, and to keep them home from school if they are not feeling up to attending.
“Keep your child home if they are sick or not feeling themselves, especially if they haven’t had enough sleep,” she said.
3. Get to know your child’s school nurse.
Gail M. Smith, director of health services for the Pickens County School System in Jasper, Georgia, said parents should introduce themselves to the school nurse and make sure they have all information needed about their child.
“It’s important to keep the lines of communication open between parents, students, schools and healthcare providers,” she said, adding, “Make sure that you have the proper documentation and information in the school clinic about your child and your child’s healthcare needs.”
Giovi said parents should not only provide their contact information to the school nurse, but should also make sure their phone’s voicemail system is set up so that they can be reached, in addition to setting up a backup plan in case there is a conflict when they’re needed.
“Create a relationship with your school nurse even if your child does not have a chronic medical condition, allergies, or any need for accommodations during the school day,” she said. “School nurses do not just take care of students but the entire community, so we want to really know everyone.”
And if your child’s school does not have a school nurse, Cogan said parents should feel empowered to ask for one.
“Advocate for a full-time school nurse in your child’s building all day, every day,” she said, noting that as many as 25% of schools in the United States do not have a nurse on staff.
4. Work at home to set up your child for success.
Braymer said that in addition to making sure kids get enough sleep, it’s almost important to fuel them for the day by making sure they eat a solid breakfast, even if it means grabbing something on the go.
Giovi added that parents can be great examples for their kids and set the tone for their time at school by preparing them properly.
“Get into a great routine including outdoor play, brushing teeth, showering, bedtime routines, reading, getting proper restful sleep, minimizing electronic play usage on devices with a plug, wake-up routines, eating a healthy breakfast, and packing healthy snacks for school,” she said.
5. Keep school nurses aware of changes in your child.
“Keep your school nurse informed of any changes that could impact your child’s mental and/or physical health,” said Cogan. “We are a safe space to help with care coordination and are a wealth of resources should you need confidential assistance.”
She continued, “The school nurse and the parents are on the same team. We want to keep our students safe, healthy, and able to learn. We are your partners in school health and safety.”
(NEW YORK) — As children and teens continue to head back to classrooms, questions are arising about how much of a risk K-12 schools are when it comes to the spread of monkeypox.
More than 18,400 cases have been diagnosed in the United States since mid-May, as of Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most of the cases have occurred among men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary. However, the CDC has said anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — is at risk of monkeypox if they come into close, personal contact with a patient.
Of those cases, 31 have been in children, according to state officials from across the country. Texas has the most confirmed pediatric cases with nine followed by California with six and Georgia with three.
Although the risk to most children is low, school officials are keeping an eye out for possible infections.
“So, superintendents are obviously aware of monkeypox,” Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director of advocacy and governance at AASA, The School Superintendents Association, told ABC News.
Ng said most schools she’s spoken with are not currently creating new health guidelines to address monkeypox because they’ve already had policies and strategies in place for communicable diseases, many most recently used to address COVID-19.
“So, it’s making sure those are current, up-to-date, that they know what they are, that their school health staff are versed in them,” she said. “And then just diligence on behalf of the administrative team and the health team to know what local and state health policy guidance is and then topping off with the CDC guidance and recommendations.”
Two weeks ago, ahead of most children heading back to school, the CDC released monkeypox guidance for K-12 schools, day cares and other settings serving children and adolescents.
The federal health agency said the disease risk to most Americans under age 18 is low but that schools “should follow their everyday operational guidance that reduces the transmission of infectious diseases.” Examples include staying home when sick, proper hand-washing etiquette and “routine cleaning and disinfection practices.”
The CDC also recommends schools consult their local or state health departments for questions about what to do if someone develops symptoms and testing for monkeypox, as well as notifying parents if a case is diagnosed among a student or an adult.
Linda Mendonça, president of the National Association of School Nurses, said the guidance has been especially helpful for school nurses, who are often required to relay health information to the community.
“It certainly is helpful to have that, and it provides us talking points and information to share with our school communities,” Mendonça told ABC News. “For instance, letting you know, parents know to keep children home when they’re sick; to make sure we’re washing hands cleaning and disinfecting and doing all of those things that we would do for pretty much any kind of infectious situation that we might have in the school setting.”
Already some schools have announced they’re following these policies. On Monday, Fort Bend Independent School District in Texas announced a high school student had tested positive for monkeypox.
The district said it will keep up with the cleaning protocols set in places for schools, including using UV-C disinfecting lamps — which use ultraviolet light — in classrooms and other facilities.
Last week, after two elementary school students tested positive in Newton County School System in Georgia, the district said parents were notified and parents considered close contacts would receive communication on next steps.
“NCSS facilities employees will thoroughly clean and disinfect classrooms and other areas at both schools this afternoon to ensure ongoing safe and healthy learning and work environments for students and staff. Both schools will be open tomorrow,” the district said in a statement.
According to the CDC, as of Aug. 21, out of 151 cases of monkeypox in those under the age of 20, only 17 have been in those aged 15 and younger.
Dr. Perry Halkitis, dean of Rutgers School of Public Health, told ABC News that while there is a risk of transmission from touching infected bedding, towels or clothing of a monkeypox patient or contaminated surfaces, the riskiest mode of transmission is sexual encounters with someone who is positive or prolonged skin-to-skin contact with an infected person.
“Of the children out there, I’m most concerned about adolescents who begin to engage in sexual behavior,” he said. “It usually begins like [ages] 15, 16, 17, 18. Those are the kids I would be most concerned about.”
“The parents who should be the most conscious, the most aware, the most opening conversations with their children are the ones who are potentially have children who are engaging in really intimate behaviors with others, which could lead to the transmission of monkeypox,” he added.
However, while he encourages parents to ask questions of what schools are doing to make sure kids are protected in general, he advises mothers and fathers not to panic.
“I think the more important thing I would say to these parents is let’s be aware that we’re still dealing with something called COVID-19, that there’s a new booster going to be available sometime in the fall,” Halkitis said. “Let’s talk about whether or not your child is vaccinated for that.”
(NEW YORK) — Madam. C.J. Walker, the first woman to become a self-made millionaire in the U.S., is the latest figure to be honored with her own Barbie doll in Mattel’s Inspiring Women line.
Walker, the daughter of former slaves, was born in Louisiana in 1867 and later became a successful entrepreneur who founded Walker Manufacturing Co., a manufacturing company that created hair care products and cosmetics designed for Black women. She employed thousands of Black women at her company, and after building her beauty empire, went on to become a prominent activist and philanthropist, supporting orphanages and Black colleges, and advocating for civil rights organizations and women’s rights.
In 2001, A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter and official biographer, authored a book about Walker, which served as the nonfiction inspiration for Self Made, the fictionalized Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer. Bundles is also the brand historian for MADAM by Madam C. J. Walker, a line of hair care products inspired by her great-great-grandmother, as well as the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives.
Mattel first approached Bundles in October 2021 about designing a doll honoring her great-great-grandmother. Throughout the design and ideation process, Bundles said she was invited to share images of Walker and her beauty product containers, offering feedback on designs. She said Mattel even sent her a box of doll head prototypes with different facial features and hair textures for Bundles to rank.
“We were able to really combine the knowledge that I’ve developed as Madam Walker’s biographer, with their incredible knowledge of marketing and telling a story through a doll,” Bundles told ABC News.
The finalized version of the Walker doll is dressed in a purple floral printed blouse paired with a full-length turquoise skirt — Bundles said the color scheme was based on Walker’s stationery — and is holding a miniature replica of Walker’s original Wonderful Hair Grower product, an ointment that helped with many scalp issues. The doll’s packaging features a historical photo of Walker’s Villa Lewaro mansion in Irvington, New York, which served as a gathering place for notable figures during the Harlem Renaissance, such as W. E. B. Dubois and Langston Hughes.
Bundles described seeing the completed Barbie doll of her great-great-grandmother as a “full circle moment.”
“When I was 3 years old, my mother bought me a Black doll, and this was in the 1950s, so this was really unusual,” she said. “It was very hard to find Black dolls, but my mother understood the importance of me being able to see myself in a doll.”
Barbie first launched the Inspiring Women Series in 2018, dedicating the collection to honoring historical and present-day role models and trailblazers who paved the way for generations of girls.
The series has paid tribute to a diverse lineup of women including Dr. Jane Goodall, Ida B. Wells, Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart and more.
Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s executive vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls, called Walker a “blueprint for the self-made American businesswoman and innovators of the twentieth century.”
“We’re honored to welcome her into this group of trailblazing women and introduce more kids to her journey of becoming one of the nation’s first widely successful female founders,” she said in a statement.
The Madam C.J. Walker doll sold out on Amazon and Mattel within a few days of its Aug. 24 release, garnering positive feedback from adults and children alike, according to Bundles.
Bundles said she hoped the doll would not only inspire children to break barriers like Walker did but also to teach them about “real life people who had very interesting, substantial, significant lives” rarely captured in school curricula.
“For me, it’s important that young people see themselves reflected, but it’s also important that our history be represented, the full breadth of our history as Americans,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — A small community in rural North Dakota is searching for answers after a farmer was found dead in his wheat field along with three other men in what authorities described as a murder-suicide.
The Towner County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies were dispatched to a wheat field south of Cando on Monday, after receiving a report of four unresponsive individuals. All four men had died from apparent gunshot wounds and a .357-caliber revolver was found near one of the bodies, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Evidence from the scene indicates that this incident was a murder-suicide and there is no known threat to the public,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office released the identities of the deceased: Douglas Dulmage, 56, of Leeds, North Dakota; Justin Bracken, 34, of Leeds, North Dakota; Richard Bracken, 64, of Leeds, North Dakota; and Robert Bracken, 59, of Cando, North Dakota.
Dulmage owned the property and lived with his wife and two daughters in nearby Leeds, a town of about 500 people. The other three men, who authorities believe are related, worked for Dulmage and were helping him harvest the wheat, according to Fargo ABC affiliate WDAY-TV.
Dulmage’s body was found in his combine harvester, according to his close friend, Pat Traynor.
“He was a pillar of the community; it’s a total devastating loss,” Traynor told WDAY. “He epitomized what it was like to be in the country, in terms of friendliness, kindness, empathy, people helping each other.”
Dulmage was also a volunteer firefighter in his hometown and a longtime member of the North Dakota Farm Bureau. He currently served as the president of the Benson County Farm Bureau.
“It is hard to understand why something like this would happen in a rural farming community,” Daryl Lies, president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau, said in a statement Wednesday. “When evil presents itself, it can be devastating but we must remember there is more good than evil in our world. Doug’s dedication to agriculture and love for his family will forever be remembered.”
The community is planning on helping the Dulmage family with harvesting the rest of the crop.
“If we could all be a bit more like Doug, the world would be a much better place,” Traynor told WDAY.
(NEW ORLEANS) — A contract baggage handler unloading a Frontier flight has died after her hair became stuck in the belt loader.
The incident occurred Tuesday at approximately 10:20 p.m. at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans when the unnamed woman who was employed by GAT Airline Ground Support, which contracts with Frontier, was working to offload an inbound aircraft after it landed when her hair somehow managed to get stuck in the belt loader.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear but GAT CEO Mike Hough confirmed to ABC News in a statement that the female victim was severely injured and subsequently died as a result of the incident.
“What we know so far is that her hair became entangled with the machinery of the belt loader,” said Hough. “We are heartbroken and are supporting her family and her friends as best as we are able.”
ABC News’ New Orleans affiliate WGNO-TV obtained a statement from Kevin Dolliole, director of Aviation for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, regarding the incident.
“We are deeply saddened about the tragic loss of GAT Airline Ground Support team member,” Dolloile said. “The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport extends its sincere condolences to her family and friends, and also to our partners at GAT and Fontier Airlines. [The victim] was a part of our Airport family, and we will continue to support one another in any way we can during this trying time.”
Hough asked people to send well wishes to the victim’s family as well as to everyone at their New Orleans station in the aftermath of the accident.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday will speak in prime time about the “soul of the nation” as he ramps ups his political messaging ahead of the midterm elections this November.
Biden is set to make the remarks from outside Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia at 8 p.m. in what will be his second trip to the battleground state this week.
Biden will “speak about how the core values of this nation — our standing in the world, our democracy — are at stake,” according to a White House official.
“He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack,” the official said. “And he will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy.”
The ramped-up rhetoric appears to mirror Biden’s 2020 messaging, in which he presented himself as a clear contrast to Donald Trump and the race itself as an inflection point for the nation.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday’s speech would be in the same vein as his messages to the nation after the Charlottesville clash involving white nationalists and on the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
Biden has repeatedly cited Charlottesville as the moment he decided he was going to run for president. In a 2017 article for the Atlantic, Biden said the deadly event was indicative that the “giant forward steps we have taken in recent years on civil liberties and civil rights and human rights are being met by a ferocious pushback from the oldest and darkest forces in America.”
“You think about the battle continues, and so what the president believes, which is a reason to have this in prime time, is that there are an overwhelming amount of Americans, majority of Americans, who believe that we need to … save the core values of our country,” Jean-Pierre told ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce during Wednesday’s press briefing.
Jean-Pierre pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision striking down abortion rights — in which Justice Clarence Thomas called for the reconsideration of rulings involving same-sex marriage, contraception and other unenumerated rights — as evidence the rights of Americans are in jeopardy.
Biden’s speech Thursday comes after a stop in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, earlier this week, where he went after “MAGA Republicans” for their response to the Jan. 6 attack and the FBI search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
“For God’s sake, whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?” a fired-up Biden pressed as he made the case for his administration’s plan for policing and crime prevention.
More criticisms of his Republican colleagues could be in store, as Jean-Pierre said Biden views MAGA Republicans as the “most energized part of the Republican Party” and won’t be “shy” about speaking out.
“The president thinks that there is an extremist threat to our democracy,” she said on Wednesday.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will be in Scranton ahead of Biden’s speech on Thursday to offer a preemptive rebuttal.
“He will talk about what he has heard from the American people this summer regarding rising crime, record high inflation and other hardships brought on by the Democrats’ harmful policies,” read a media advisory from McCarthy’s team.
(BOSTON) — Boston Children’s Hospital received a bomb threat late Tuesday night following weeks of harassment and threats against doctors for providing gender-affirming care, according to officials.
“We remain vigilant in our efforts to battle the spread of false information about the hospital and our caregiver,” the hospital said in a statement to ABC News. “We are committed to ensuring the hospital is a safe and secure place for all who work here and come here. We will provide additional information as we are able.”
A threatening phone call came into the hospital around 8 p.m., according to the hospital and police. The Boston police bomb squad responded to the scene. There was no bomb found, the Boston Police Department told ABC News.
Officials said it is an ongoing investigation and it is unclear if the call is related to the ongoing harassment.
“We moved swiftly to protect our patients and employees, and we are working with law enforcement and outside experts as they closely investigate this situation,” the hospital said.
Boston Children’s Hospital is home to the nation’s first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program, according to the hospital. After it posted a now-removed informational video about the gender-affirming care it provides for patients, far-right social media accounts and commentators began harassing the institution, according to the hospital.
Gender-affirming surgeries are only offered for people 18 years old and older, and a patient must take various steps before they are eligible for surgery.
However, the hospital says that misinformation about this and its trans care has been spreading online — sparking backlash and threats against the center and its staff.
“We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” reads a past statement from the hospital to Boston.com concerning the attacks.
(NEW YORK) — A North Carolina mom is speaking out after she said her son’s school mistakenly placed him on a school bus he was never supposed to be on.
Tracy Williamson told ABC News’ Good Morning America she went to the school to pick up her 6-year-old son Avery at the end of his first day of school but couldn’t locate him.
When Williamson asked staff at her child’s school where he was, she said they told her he was on school grounds. However, she said she later learned he had been placed on a school bus by accident.
“I’m like, immediately, ‘So y’all lost my kid?’ So they’re like, ‘No, he’s not lost. He should be in the cafeteria,'” Williamson said.
But Avery was not on school property or even on the school bus anymore. Williamson said the bus driver had dropped him off and Avery was later found by a neighbor near his family’s home, crying.
“The bus driver let him get off the bus when he really shouldn’t have. So yeah, that’s when I was definitely in panic mode,” Williamson said.
Williamson said she couldn’t track her son down for at least two hours.
“The principal assured me, ‘OK, because he’s 6, he’s not allowed to get off the bus.’ So I’m like, ‘OK, the bus driver originally said [there were no kids on the bus],’ ” she added. “They’re like, ‘Well, maybe he fell asleep.’ The bus driver said, ‘No, I dropped that kid off.'”
Cumberland County Schools, the school district in which Avery’s school is located, responded to ABC News about the incident in a statement.
“Our top priority is the safety of our students. While we regret this situation happened, we are grateful that the student is safe,” the district said. “District and school officials are looking into this situation to determine exactly what happened and how we can prevent it from happening in the future.”
The American School Bus Council, a group of school bus providers, manufacturers and government officials, doesn’t keep track of how often children end up on the wrong school bus or get dropped off at the wrong location. The coalition does say, however, that kids are 70 times more likely to get to school safely on a bus than in a car.
A company called Zum is also currently working with school districts in four states — Illinois, Texas, Washington, and California — to manage student transportation and give parents the ability to track their children through a smartphone app that sends out notifications when school buses arrive at a location and when a child has boarded a bus.
