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(NewsNation) — Sania Khan, 29, was found dead in her Chicago apartment on July 18. Police believe her ex-husband, Raheel Ahmed, killed her in a murder-suicide. Khan was shot to death after divorcing her husband of less than a year.
Ahmed was also found dead beside her with a gun in his hand and a suicide note nearby. It was widely known that Kahn was going through a divorce with Ahmed because she typically posted updates about her troubles on TikTok.
Gabriella Bordó, one of Khan’s good friends, was traveling to Chicago to bring her back home to Tennessee. She said she wished she’d seen the warning signs earlier. “I had a feeling, but I don’t think I seriously ever suspected anything because I did not have the misfortune, or fortune, of meeting him in person. Only met him through FaceTime. I didn’t understand. I didn’t know,” Bordó said.
One of the messages that Khan posted on TikTok included the following caption: “Going through a divorce as a South Asian woman feels like you failed at life. Sometimes the way the community labels you, the lack of emotional support you receive, and the pressure to stay with someone because what will people say? It is isolating.”
“It is a shame, and I think it’s despicable and just completely crazy that it’s even expected of these women, especially in their circumstances,” Bordó said.
“I still cannot believe that it was my friend,” she said. “She was so bold, and honest, and open about what she was doing, and ready to leave. It’s just absolutely absurd. I can’t imagine other women who are not as fiery and fighting as she is” going through the same experience.” | https://www.news10.com/news/chicago-woman-dead-after-documenting-divorce-on-tiktok/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:21 | en | 0.989855 |
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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Schenectady man has been sentenced for distributing heroin and cocaine base. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) said Gregory Sherrills, Jr., 40, was sentenced to five years in prison.
In pleading guilty, Sherrills admitted to selling heroin and cocaine base to another person seven different times between December 2019 and March 2021 at various locations in Schenectady. In total, Sherrills sold about 120 grams of heroin and 60 grams of cocaine base.
DOJ said this conviction is his fourth felony drug conviction. Sherrills was also ordered to serve a four-year term of supervised release after he is released from prison. | https://www.news10.com/news/crime/schenectady-man-sentenced-for-distributing-drugs/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:27 | en | 0.972157 |
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NEWFANE, N.Y. (WIVB) — It appears that the beef between Asha’s Farm Sanctuary and McKee Farms in Newfane has been squashed, as a result of law enforcement action.
“I knew I was going to get my cattle back, I knew they were my cattle and I had evidence proving that,” said McKee Farms owner Scott Gregson.
On July 25, New York State Troopers out of Lockport went to the animal sanctuary on Coomer Road “for a property retrieval of cows with the SPCA and the owner of the cows,” they wrote in a news release Tuesday morning.
Tracy Murphy, the 59-year-old president and founder of Asha’s, refused to give them back, police said, resulting in protests coming from both sides.
“I would say it’s a little unorthodox,” New York state trooper James O’Callaghan said to News 4. “When any sort of animal crosses into your property, I mean they’re still not technically yours.”
State police announced Tuesday morning that Murphy has been charged with third-degree grand larceny — a felony. The cows have since been returned to their owner, police said.
“We’re very relieved to have them back safe, my children are very excited and it just feels good to get to this stage here where we can finally have our property back,” Gregson said.
“Obviously we feel satisfied that the cows were released, we feel justified that she was held accountable for her actions and was arrested,” said Ed Pettitt, who’s been protesting outside the sanctuary all week.
Following her processing at the State police barracks in Lockport, Murphy was remanded to the Niagara County Jail for centralized county arraignment. | https://www.news10.com/news/erie-county/owner-of-newfane-farm-sanctuary-charged-with-grand-larceny/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:33 | en | 0.986947 |
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(The Hill) – Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) says he is exchanging materials with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to help her better understand the broad tax reform and climate bill he negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and says he is open to her suggestions as Democrats seek 50 votes to put the bill on the floor.
Manchin finally got a chance to speak to Sinema after lunch Tuesday, when she was scheduled to preside over the chamber.
Manchin was tight-lipped about the details of the conversation but made clear that he’s willing to consider changes she might want to make to the deal, which would raise $739 billion in new revenue over the next decade and reduce the deficit by more than $300 billion.
“We had a nice time. We had a nice time. Next?” Manchin said Tuesday when reporters pressed him for details of his chat with Sinema while she sat at the Senate dais.
Asked again shed any light on whether Sinema will vote for the bill, which would give President Biden the biggest legislative victory of this first two years in office, Manchin said his colleague would make her own decision.
“We’re exchanging text back and forth,” he said. She’s “extremely bright, she works hard, she makes good decisions based on facts. I’m reliant on that.”
Manchin said Schumer is “working with all the caucus” to get buy-in from all 50 members to get the budget reconciliation bill to the floor later this week.
Even though Sinema played a major role in negotiating the prescription drug reform component of the bill and set the broad parameters of the tax chapter, she learned about the deal at the same time as all of her colleagues and the general public — through a press release.
Manchin said he’s open to considering changes suggested by Sinema, including on a proposal to close the carried interest tax loophole, one of his priorities.
“We’re just basically exchanging back and forth, whatever I have that she hasn’t seen. And our staffs are working together very closely,” he said, adding he’s also exchanging materials relevant to the bill with other Democratic and Republican senators.
Asked if he would be willing to change the bill’s carried interest provision, Manchin responded: “Everyone is still talking.”
But Manchin defended closing the loophole that allows money managers to pay capital gains tax rates on income they collect from managing profitable investments.
Asked whether Sinema is upset that she didn’t get looped into last week’s talks with Schumer, which produced the surprise deal, Manchin said he didn’t want to get any senator’s hopes up when he didn’t know whether an agreement was even possible.
“She’s my dear friend,” he said. “But why bring anyone in and all their aspirations get high and the drama we go through and it doesn’t work out?
“I wasn’t really sure” a deal could be reached, he said. “I’m not in control of the timing” of the announcement of the deal, “Sen. Schumer is in control of the timing.”
“People getting mad because they think this is some kind of orchestrated coup against them is just so wrong,” he added. | https://www.news10.com/news/national/manchin-and-sinema-in-discussions-on-climate-tax-deal/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:40 | en | 0.975334 |
AP source: Phillies get reliever Robertson from Cubs
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Phillies acquired veteran reliever David Robertson in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
A person with direct knowledge of the trade confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced.
The Phillies sent minor league right-hander Ben Brown to the Cubs for the 37-year-old Robertson, one of the top relievers on the market ahead of the trade deadline.
Robertson is 3-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 14 saves in 36 appearances this year. The right-hander finalized a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Cubs on March 16. | https://www.fox29.com/news/ap-source-phillies-get-reliever-robertson-from-cubs-1 | 2022-08-02T21:31:40 | en | 0.949788 |
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A bar in Saratoga is still a popular spot this summer, with new rules following a string of violence on Caroline Street. Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commissioner, Jim Montagnino, says heightened police presence and other new operating regulations have been working well at Gaffney’s.
“We’re a party town. There’s no getting around that,” Montagnino said in an interview with NEWS10. “We’re proud to be a party town, but the parties have to be orderly, and they have to be safe.”
Backstreet Boys fans turned out to the Caroline Street bar in droves when the band stopped by for autographs after a recent concert at SPAC.
“A lot of people appeared, and things were pretty peaceful. No major complaints,” Montagnino recalled. “I think the only complaints were people who couldn’t get in. There were long lines of people who wanted to get in to see them.”
Gaffney’s had to pay a $70,000 fine earlier this summer after the State Liquor Authority suspended their alcohol license over what authorities called a pattern of violence and disorder. It’s not the only Capital Region bar receiving SLA intervention lately.
Two bars in Schenectady are on their list. VibeZ Bar and Lounge is under investigation following a shooting death on July 1st. The probe is ongoing, but according to the SLA, initial police accounts indicate the victim only entered the bar seeking aid after being shot in the vicinity of VibeZ.
The other, The Saw Mill, had its liquor license suspended by the SLA following recent reports of violent incidents at the bar. On July 15, police were called there for two people who had been shot. The owner submitted a plea of not guilty to the liquor authority’s charges on Friday. NEWS10 has attempted to obtain comment from both of Schenectady bars, but we were unable to reach the owners.
Montagnino said for Gaffney’s, the conditions set by the bar and the SLA have worked, and it’s about striking a balance between letting people have fun, letting the bar make its money, and keeping everyone safe.
“Certainly, things like the earlier closing time are going to have an impact on the bottom line, but what are the options? We had problems in the past, some of which are related to the early morning hour problems, and so this is the compromise,” he said.
Gaffney’s provided NEWS10 with this statement:
Gaffney’s has been hard at work, making our establishment the destination of the summer. Our serving and security staff have enjoyed returning to doing what they do best in creating a fun and safe atmosphere. We look forward to working with the State Liquor Authority on eventually bringing back great bands and award-winning singer-songwriters back to the heart of Caroline Street.
Gaffney’s | https://www.news10.com/news/new-rules-at-gaffneys-are-working-officials-say/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:46 | en | 0.974642 |
Chick-fil-A reveals menu hacks to upgrade your order
Chick-fil-A is adamant that it doesn’t have a secret menu – but the fast food chain recently gave fans a list of suggestions for taking their orders to the next level.
Last week, the chain published an article that explained, "Chick-fil-A does not have a secret menu. No cookie crumble coffee. No chicken quesadillas. No grilled cheese sandwiches. No fried pickles."
Some Chick-fil-A locations do occasionally offer special items such as packets of guacamole and special cheese sauce, the chain said in the article.
Locations in Texas and Arizona even offer jalapeños, while chicken gravy is on offer at 30 locations in West Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky, according to Chick-fil-A.
File: A Chick-fil-A employee assists a customer in a drive-thru line on July 05, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Plus, fans can customize their orders by adding or removing different ingredients on some menu items.
CHICK-FIL-A IS AMERICA’S FAVORITE RESTAURANT FOR 8TH YEAR IN A ROW
Aside from those customizations, Chick-fil-A employees aren’t allowed to prepare food that’s not on the menu, the company said.
That doesn’t mean customers can’t make their own dishes using items that already exist on the Chick-fil-A menu.
CHICK-FIL-A BREAKFAST: WHAT TIME DOES IT END?
File: A chicken sandwich with waffle fries is pictured at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Dedham, MA on Nov. 8, 2017. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Below is a list of suggestions from Chick-fil-A on how fans can make their own not-so-secret menu items.
Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
Chick-fil-A suggests ordering either nuggets or grilled nuggets along with mac & cheese, buffalo sauce and ranch sauce. Then, fans should combine all the ingredients – after chopping up the nuggets – right in the mac & cheese container.
Cookie Icedream Sandwich
To make this dessert, customers should order a cup of Chick-fil-A’s Icedream dessert and two Chocolate Chunk cookies and sandwich the frozen dessert between the cookies.
Icedream Fruit Cup
Another easy menu "hack" is the Icedream Fruit Cup, which can be combined using a side order of fruit and an Icedream cup from the dessert menu.
Chick-n-Minis Masterpiece
Chick-fil-A recommends taking its mini chicken rolls to the next level using hash browns. Customers can make this "masterpiece" by dipping a hash brown in their favorite sauce and placing the hash brown in the Chick-n-Mini roll, on top of the chicken bites.
Double Cookie Milkshake
Customers who order a Chick-fil-A Cookies & Cream Milkshake can double their dessert with a Chocolate Chunk Cookie, which then can crumble and mix into their milkshake, Chick-fil-A recommends. | https://www.fox29.com/news/chick-fil-a-secret-menu-hacks | 2022-08-02T21:31:46 | en | 0.87158 |
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BROOKLYN (PIX11) — A husband’s romantic Valentine’s Day gesture turned tragic when his wife was allegedly raped by a massage therapist in their Brooklyn home earlier this year, according to a new lawsuit.
The woman, identified as Jane SE Doe in court papers filed in Brooklyn, sued massage company Soothe, Inc. and Evident, Inc., the company Soothe hired to do employee background checks.
On Feb. 14, 2022, the victim’s husband was out of town on business and used the Soothe app to order a massage for his wife, per the lawsuit. The company sent Hernando Giraldo to the Brooklyn home, where he allegedly sexually assaulted and raped her before fleeing, according to the complaint.
The plaintiff alleged that Giraldo, who remains at large, is not the therapist’s real name and that he had been arrested by the NYPD for attacking another Soothe customer prior to the Valentine’s Day incident.
Court records state Soothe advertises that its employees undergo criminal background checks and identity verification to assure customers’ safety. The massage company hired Evident to handle the vetting process, the complaint said.
“With this lawsuit, Doe hopes to recover from the unbelievable trauma of being raped in her own home and to protect others from suffering a similar fate,” said the woman’s lawyer, Nathan Werksman.
Soothe did not immediately respond to a PIX11 inquiry for comment. | https://www.news10.com/news/ny-news/massage-therapist-rapes-woman-in-her-brooklyn-home-on-valentines-day-suit-alleges/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:52 | en | 0.961553 |
Even the simplest form of exercise can help with an aging brain, research hints
New research hints that even a simple exercise routine just might help older Americans with mild memory problems.
Doctors have long advised physical activity to help keep a healthy brain fit. But the government-funded study marks the longest test of whether exercise makes any difference once memory starts to slide — research performed amid a pandemic that added isolation to the list of risks to participants' brain health.
Researchers recruited about 300 sedentary older adults with hard-to-spot memory changes called mild cognitive impairment or MCI -- a condition that’s sometimes, but not always, a precursor to Alzheimer’s. Half were assigned aerobic exercises and the rest stretching-and-balance moves that only modestly raised their heart rate.
Another key component: Participants in both groups were showered with attention by trainers who worked with them at YMCAs around the country -- and when COVID-19 shut down gyms, helped them keep moving at home via video calls.
After a year, cognitive testing showed overall neither group had worsened, said lead researcher Laura Baker, a neuroscientist at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Nor did brain scans show the shrinkage that accompanies worsening memory problems, she said.
By comparison, similar MCI patients in another long-term study of brain health -- but without exercise -- experienced significant cognitive decline over a year.
Those early findings are surprising, and the National Institute on Aging cautioned that tracking non-exercisers in the same study would have offered better proof.
But the results suggest "this is doable for everybody" -- not just seniors healthy enough to work up a hard sweat, said Baker, who presented the data Tuesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. "Exercise needs to be part of the prevention strategies" for at-risk seniors.
Previous research has found regular physical activity of any sort may reduce damaging inflammation and increase blood flow to the brain, said Alzheimer’s Association chief scientific officer Maria Carrillo.
But the new study is especially intriguing because the pandemic hit halfway through, leaving already vulnerable seniors socially isolated -- something long known to increase people’s risk of memory problems, Carrillo said.
It’s a frustrating time for dementia research. Doctors are hesitant to prescribe a high-priced new drug called Aduhelm that was supposed to be the first to slow progression of Alzheimer’s -- but it’s not yet clear if it really helps patients. Researchers last month reported another drug that works similarly -- by targeting amyloid plaques that are an Alzheimer’s hallmark -- failed in a key study.
While amyloid clearly plays a role, it's important that drugmakers increasingly are targeting many other factors that can lead to dementia, Carrillo said, because effective treatment or prevention likely will require a combination of customized strategies.
One example of a new approach: Sometimes in dementia, the brain has trouble processing blood sugar and fats for the energy it needs, John Didsbury of T3D Therapeutics told the Alzheimer's meeting. His company is testing a pill that aims to rev up that metabolism, with results expected next year.
Meanwhile, there’s growing urgency to settle whether steps people could take today -- like exercise -- might offer at least some protection.
How much and what kind of exercise? In Baker’s study, seniors were supposed to get moving for 30 to 45 minutes four times a week, whether it was on a vigorous turn on the treadmill or the stretching exercises. That’s a big ask of anyone who’s sedentary, but Baker said MCI’s effects on the brain make it even harder for people to plan and stick with the new activity.
Hence the social stimulation — which she credited with each participant completing over 100 hours of exercise. Baker suspects that sheer volume might explain why even the simple stretching added up to an apparent benefit. Participants were supposed to exercise without formal support for an additional six months, data Baker hasn't yet analyzed.
"We wouldn’t have done the exercise on our own," said retired agriculture researcher Doug Maxwell of Verona, Wisconsin, who joined the study with his wife.
The duo, both 81, were both assigned to the stretching classes. They felt so good afterward that when the study ended, they bought electric bikes in hopes of even more activity -- efforts Maxwell acknowledged are hard to keep up.
Next up: Baker is leading an even larger study of older adults to see if adding exercise to other can’t-hurt steps such as a heart-healthy diet, brain games and social stimulation together may reduce the risk of dementia. | https://www.fox29.com/news/even-the-simplest-form-of-exercise-can-help-with-an-aging-brain-research-hints | 2022-08-02T21:31:52 | en | 0.953649 |
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(The Hill) — Verizon’s decision to drop One American News from its channel listings is raising questions about the future of conservative cable news networks that have sought to position themselves as competition to Fox News. OAN’s future is very much in question after Verizon last month became the latest major cable provider to cut it from its lineup.
Before the 2020 presidential election, few news consumers had tuned into or even heard of the One America News (OAN) and Newsmax cable networks. But the networks won outsized attention as both covered and supported former President Trump’s fight to contest his election loss.
In January, DirecTV announced it would not renew its contract with the San Diego-based channel following an aggressive pressure campaign from critics who argued the content on OAN was harmful. A recent New York Times analysis estimated the two decisions could cost OAN a presence in some 20 million homes, and it is unclear how the channel will stay operational at the scale it had been during the period immediately following the 2020 election.
The network declined to comment on Monday. Verizon has not said why the decision to drop OAN was made, but observers point to the network’s low ratings compared to the other major cable talk and news channels.
“There genuinely wasn’t a business case for these providers not just to be keeping One America News, but paying the carriers that they were,” said Angelo Carusone, president of the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America, which participated in a pressure campaign to get OAN taken off the air. “Unless they get a cash infusion from a third party to operate, they can’t.”
Newsmax’s future seems quite a bit brighter, in comparison. Just days after it announced it would drop OAN, Verizon renewed its deal with Newsmax. In an interview, network CEO Chris Ruddy told The Hill that “Verizon never made any issue of our politics whatsoever and never has.”
“What we’ve proven is that we’re here to stay,” Ruddy said of his network, which has recently hired Eric Bolling and Greta Van Susteren, former personalities on Fox News, to host shows in prime time. “A lot of people thought that our rise after the 2020 election was temporary.”
Newsmax and OAN’s ratings are dwarfed by those of the three leading cable news channels: CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. Both channels have also seen their ratings drop in recent months, though the same is true for larger channels. Nielsen data showed a 38% drop in weekday prime-time viewership for CNN in 2021, a 34% drop for Fox News Channel, and 25% drop for MSNBC as viewers watched cable less with President Biden in the Oval Office instead of Trump.
Fox News’s prime-time opinion hosts dominate the conservative commentary world on television, averaging 2.4 million viewers nightly so far this year, beating Newsmax by more than 1,000%. Newsmax has only delivered 1 million viewers 17 times in its history, Nielsen ratings data shows.
In the conservative media space, experts say the emergence of OAN and Newsmax is evidence of an increasingly fractured political discourse on the right and the public’s widely-documented dissatisfaction with traditional media. “We are at a point where we have never been before in terms of the number of choices consumers have to get their news,” said Rob Bluey, who oversees the conservative Heritage Foundation’s communications strategy and runs its media apparatus known online as The Daily Signal. “When it comes to digital media there’s any number of options. When it comes to broadcasting, obviously it’s a little more challenging.”
While Fox News has been covering Trump less than while he was president, the other smaller conservative cable outlets with Trump-hungry audiences have not backed off. “If the current offerings don’t sit well with their politics, I would expect audiences to look for other, better-aligned sources,” said Natalie Stroud, the director of the University of Texas’s Center for Media Engagement. “As the 2024 election heats up, I suspect that we’ll see renewed interest in ideologically aligned sources.”
Part of what OAN needs to survive, others say, is promotion from Trump himself. When Trump was president, he and his press secretaries would call on the outlet for questions at press conferences.
“I just wouldn’t put too much stock in the fate of OAN as meaning much one way or the other,” said Rich Lowry, the top editor at the conservative National Review. “I don’t think it ever really had much of an audience or much purchase, except for Trump occasionally trying to pump it up. I do think there are a lot of outlets that got a sugar high from the post-election environment … and such a premium for that kind of content among part of the Republican base. And I think that has faded out so maybe that’s part of what’s going on with OAN.” | https://www.news10.com/news/oans-troubles-spark-questions-for-conservative-cable-news/ | 2022-08-02T21:31:58 | en | 0.973187 |
Georgia to allow people to claim unborn children as dependents on taxes
ATLANTA - The Georgia Department of Revenue says expecting families who live in the Peach State can claim their embryo as a dependent on their taxes.
In new guidance released Monday, officials with the state's Department of Revenue says that the tax change is due to the Supreme Court's ruling striking down Roe v. Wade and the Court of Appeals' decision to allow Georgia's so-called "heartbeat" law to go into effect.
The 2019 Georgia law bans most abortions when there is a "detectable human heartbeat." Cells that eventually become the heart exhibit cardiac activity in a human embryo as early as six weeks into pregnancy. That is earlier than some women realize they are pregnant.
Part of the law also allows parents to claim an embryo once that cardiac activity is detected by a doctor.
PRO-CHOICE ACTIVISTS CONDEMN COURT'S ABORTION LAW RULING, PRO-LIFE ALLIES PLAN TO ‘BUILD’ ON WIN
After the court's ruling, the Department of Revenue says anyone who is expecting a child on or after July 20 through Dec. 31, 2022 can claim the dependent personal exemption for the amount of $3,000 per unborn child. Eligible people will file the deduction on the "other adjustments" section of Form 500 Schedule 1.
Revenue officials say they may ask for proof that the filer was or is pregnant.
"Similar to any other deduction claimed on an income tax return, relevant medical records or other supporting documentation shall be provided to support the dependent deduction claimed if requested by the Department," the department said in a statement.
The department expects to issue additional information about the personal exemption for an unborn child will be issued later this year.
While claiming the dependent will be allowed in the state, this will not affect filer's federal returns.
What's in Georgia's abortion law?
Previously, women in Georgia could seek an abortion during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, but House Bill 481 allows women to get abortions before a heartbeat is detected, which is at about six weeks gestation. That is before most women see a doctor to confirm they're pregnant.
HB 481 makes exceptions in the case of rape and incest — if the woman files a police report first — and to save the life of the mother. It also allows for abortions when a fetus is determined not to be viable because of serious medical issues.
The bill also deals with alimony, child support, and even income-tax deductions for fetuses, declaring that "the full value of a child begins at the point when a detectable human heartbeat exists."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.fox29.com/news/georgia-to-allow-people-to-claim-unborn-children-as-dependents | 2022-08-02T21:31:58 | en | 0.953061 |
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state prison authorities have lifted a ban on a book about the 1971 Attica uprising following a First Amendment lawsuit.
Author Heather Ann Thompson, a historian and professor at the University of Michigan, sued the state's prisons in March in Manhattan federal court over the censorship of her 2016 book "Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971."
Prison official said last week in a letter to a Manhattan federal judge that they would dismiss the ban but will cut out a two-page map from all copies for security purposes.
The riot began in Attica, New York, on Sept. 9, 1971, when more than 1,300 inmates took over part of the prison to protest years of mistreatment.
The prisoners took 39 guards hostage.
The standoff ended on Sept. 13 when law enforcement officers shot tear gas into a prison yard before shooting into the smoke.
In total, 32 inmates and 11 hostages were killed.
No law enforcement officers were prosecuted for their role in the massacre. | https://www.fox13now.com/news/national/new-york-prisons-lift-ban-on-book-about-attica-uprising | 2022-08-02T21:32:02 | en | 0.969277 |
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COLONIE, N.Y. (News10)-Police have exhumed the remains of an Albany woman hoping to solve her murder that’s remained a cold case since 1959. News10’s Anya Tucker spoke with the investigator who is now trying to identify the woman’s Killer.
The story dates back to December, 1959. Police had identified body found along Sandcreek Road in Colonie as belonging to 18-year-old Ruth Whitman from the neighboring city of Albany. The medical examiner determined she died of asphyxiation due to drowning in a nearby drainage ditch. Whitman’s face had been beaten, and she had suffered a blow to the back of her head. The M.E. had also determined that Ruth had been 4-6 weeks pregnant.
Over the years the case grew cold. And when the physical evidence was accidentally lost during a move, it grew even colder. That was until now— Enter Colonie Police Sgt. John Santorio. Santorio knew the old reports read that blood and human hair had been recovered from from underneath Ruth’s fingernails. “That would indicate that she put up a struggle with her killer. And likely that tissue belonged to the person who murdered her,” said Santorio.
But with the physical evidence lost, DNA testing to try and identify Ruth’s killer to was useless. Or was it? Santorio applied for a grant with Season Of Justice, a non-profit that helps law enforcement agencies cover the cost of DNA testing. The plan to exhume the remains was first reported by Spotlight News.
Santorio secured the grant and with the permission of Whitman’s family they exhumed her remains on Monday. “We were able to recover the fingernails that we were looking for initially which appeared to be with viable tissue,” added Santorio.
Ruth’s former boyfriend, who was initially eliminated as her killer by police in the 1958, is now 83-year-old and he has offered up his own DNA for testing.
One possible suspect being eyed is notorious serial killer Robert Garrow. Garrow just happened to live a few doors down from Ruth Whitman when she was killed. He survived a manhunt, but was later killed by officers in 1978 after escaping from prison. Police believe his relatives DNA could be used to eliminate or establish him as the killer.
Colonie Police expect the results to return between 16-24 weeks from now. We will let you know what they find. | https://www.news10.com/news/police-exhume-murder-victims-remains-for-new-dna/ | 2022-08-02T21:32:04 | en | 0.987833 |
James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning new image of Cartwheel Galaxy
GREENBELT, Md. - NASA released a new image Tuesday from its James Webb Space Telescope, showing the Cartwheel Galaxy in stunning detail.
While other telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, have previously examined the Cartwheel Galaxy, located approximately 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, NASA said a large amount of dust has obscured the view.
But its new James Webb telescope, which has an ability to detect infrared light, revealed new details about star formation and the galaxy's central black hole, NASA said.
PREVIOUS: Groundbreaking Webb telescope images show new details of the universe
The Cartwheel Galaxy's appearance, which resembles the wheel of a wagon, is the result of an "intense event," astronomers said, attributing it to a "high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy."
The Cartwheel has two rings - a bright inner ring and an outer, colorful one - making it a "ring galaxy," which is a structure less common than spiral galaxies like the Milky Way.
Left image: A large pink, speckled galaxy resembling a wheel with with a small, inner oval, with dusty blue in between on the right, with two smaller spiral galaxies about the same size to the left against a black background. Right image taken from J
Astronomers noted that the new image shows how the bright core contains a "tremendous amount of hot dust with the brightest areas being the home to gigantic young star clusters."
Meanwhile, they said the outer ring, which has expanded for about 440 million years, is dominated by star formation and supernovas.
"As this ring expands, it plows into surrounding gas and triggers star formation," NASA astronomers wrote.
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But they said the telescope's image shows that the Cartwheel galaxy is in a transitory stage, and was presumably a normal spiral galaxy like the Milky Way before its collision.
"While Webb gives us a snapshot of the current state of the Cartwheel, it also provides insight into what happened to this galaxy in the past and how it will evolve in the future," astronomers said.
What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
The world’s biggest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away last December from French Guiana in South America. In January, it reached its lookout point of 1 million miles from Earth.
That’s when the lengthy process began to align the mirrors, get the infrared detectors cold enough to operate, and calibrate the science instruments — all protected by a sunshade the size of a tennis court that keeps the telescope cool.
The plan is to use the telescope to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the early days of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with a sharper focus.
How does James Webb Space Telescope compare to Hubble Space Telescope?
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit by space shuttle Discovery in 1990, helping scientists to better understand how planets and galaxies form with its own awe-inspiring images.
The James Webb Space Telescope is Hubble’s bigger, more powerful successor.
Specifically, Webb is designed to peer deeper into space to see the earliest stars and galaxies that formed in the universe and to look deep into nearby dust clouds to study the formation of stars and planets, NASA says. To do this, Webb has a much larger primary mirror than Hubble — 2.7 times larger in diameter — which gives it more light-gathering power.
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Its infrared instruments also have longer wavelength coverage and more improved sensitivity compared to Hubble.
Hubble has stared as far back as 13.4 billion years, disclosing a clumpy runt of a galaxy that is currently the oldest and farthest object ever observed. Astronomers are eager to close the 300 million-year gap with Webb and draw ever closer in time to the Big Bang, the moment the universe formed 13.8 billion years ago.
How far back past 13 billion years did that first image look? NASA didn't provide any estimate on Monday. Outside scientists said those calculations will take time, but they are fairly certain somewhere in the busy image is a galaxy older than humanity has ever seen, probably back to 500 million or 600 million years after the Big Bang.
"It takes a little bit of time to dig out those galaxies," University of California, Santa Cruz, astrophysicist Garth Illingworth said. "It's the things you almost can't see here, the tiniest little red dots."
RELATED: James Webb Space Telescope to be featured on US postage stamp
"This is absolutely spectacular, absolutely amazing," he added. "This is everything we’ve dreamed of in a telescope like this."
The deepest view of the cosmos "is not a record that will stand for very long," project scientist Klaus Pontoppidan said during the briefing, since scientists are expected to use the Webb telescope to go even deeper.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.fox29.com/news/james-webb-space-telescope-captures-stunning-new-image-of-cartwheel-galaxy | 2022-08-02T21:32:04 | en | 0.945887 |
SALT LAKE CITY — Jazz fans who want to feel what it's like to experience life in the NBA will get their chance when the team holds its first-ever fantasy basketball camp.
The adults-only camp on Sept. 8-10 will give amateur hoopsters a chance to live like their Jazz heroes for three-days and two nights. Those who attend will go through practice, eat and sleep just like the pros.
Camp attendees will be coached by the Jazz staff and have lunch prepared by the team's chef. Along with the training sessions in team-only areas at the Zions Bank Basketball Campus, there will be 5x5 games and an NBA Training Combine.
Former Jazz stars Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams will be part of the entire camp, while team leaders Ryan Smith and Danny Ainge will make appearances throughout the event.
During the camp, participants will stay at the Grand America Hotel, just like the visiting teams who fly in to take on the Jazz at Vivint Arena.
“The inaugural Jazz Fantasy Camp will be an intimate, personal experience for people to walk in the shoes of a Jazz player for a few days,” said Nate Martinez, vice president of fan development. “It will be a rare opportunity to interact with Jazz staff, play basketball where the pros play, and have fun with other Jazz fans. We are excited to offer this adult camp for the first time.”
All Jazz campers will receive team merchandise to look the part of a real player, and take part in multiple photo and video opportunties. | https://www.fox13now.com/sports/nba/utah-jazz-to-hold-first-ever-fantasy-basketball-camp | 2022-08-02T21:32:08 | en | 0.948568 |
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TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Demolition is underway on Troy’s Uncle Sam Parking Garage. The privately-owned garage permanently closed in July 2021 after it was deemed unsafe.
Fulton Street between 3rd Street and 4th Street is closed for three to four months for the demolition. The closure began on July 13. Officials said the sidewalk on the south side of Fulton Street between 3rd and 4th Streets is open to pedestrian traffic with intermittent closures possible.
In July 2021, Troy Mayor Patrick Madden said his office received numerous complaints about the garage. After the city’s code enforcement and engineering departments inspected the garage, they deemed it not safe.
“Our engineer saw conditions that concerned him we so have closed the garage to protect the public health and safety,” said Madden.
The garage was built in 1974 and was sold to a private owner in 2010. In April, the Troy City Planning Commission unanimously approved the demolition. | https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer-county/demolition-begins-on-troys-uncle-sam-parking-garage/ | 2022-08-02T21:32:10 | en | 0.984491 |
Mother sues Facebook, claiming harm to addicted teenage daughter
DENVER - A Colorado mother has filed a lawsuit against Facebook and its parent company, Meta, alleging the social media platform harmed her 13-year-old daughter.
Cecelia Tesch of Pueblo filed the federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver last month on behalf of her daughter— listed as "R.P." in court documents obtained by FOX Television Stations.
Kevin Hannon, an attorney for Tesch, said Facebook thwarted brain development in R.P.
In court documents, R.P. is described as a heavy user of Facebook who started using the online platform at seven years old and began exhibiting addictive behavior.
RELATED: Senators introduce bill to address social media harm, addiction
"R.P. interest in any activity other than viewing and posting on Facebook progressively declined," the lawsuit stated.
Because of her addiction, Tesch’s attorneys said the teenager "subsequently developed injuries including, but not limited to, body dysmorphia eating disorder, self-harm, severe anxiety, depression, and a decrease in motivation to do school work or socialize with her family and peers."
Attorneys allege Facebook was designed "to allow children and adolescents to use, become addicted to, and abuse their product without the consent of the users’ parents, like Cecelia Tesch."
They further claim Facebook failed to alert parents of the dangers of addictive behavior and failed to exercise "ordinary care" to prevent the harmful effects of overusing the platform.
"The algorithms in Defendants’ social media products exploit adolescent users’ diminished decision-making capacity, impulse control, emotional maturity, and psychological resiliency caused by users’ incomplete brain development," the lawsuit read.
RELATED: Instagram lawsuits claim platform fuels eating disorders, mental health issues for young users
Tesch is suing for liability, negligence, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress among other causes of actions.
FOX Television Stations has reached out to Meta for comment.
Meta continues to come under fire over teenage users
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen sparked global attention and confirmed parents' fears regarding social media when she leaked information about the tech giant.
"The choices being made inside of Facebook are disastrous for our children, for our public safety, for our privacy, and for our democracy," Haugen said in her opening statement before lawmakers in October 2021. "I saw Facebook repeatedly encounter conflicts between its own profits and our safety. Facebook consistently resolved these conflicts in favor of its own profits."
Last November, a group of state attorneys general announced they are investigating the photo-sharing platform Instagram and its effects on children and young adults, saying its parent company Facebook — now called Meta Platforms — ignored internal research about the physical and mental health dangers it posed to young people.
RELATED: 'Wren Eleanor' TikTok movement inspires moms on social media to remove photos of kids: 'Sick people'
The investigation targets, among other things, the techniques Meta uses to keep young people on its platforms — and the harms that extended time spent on Instagram can cause.
In a statement, Meta spokesperson Liza Crenshaw called the accusations "false" and said they demonstrate "a deep misunderstanding of the facts."
With regards to Instagram, Meta company leaders said they’re developing features that will stop people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them, nudge young users to other things if they have been focused on one topic for a while and be stricter about what posts, hashtags and accounts it recommends to try to cut down on potentially harmful or sensitive content.
What can parents do to protect their children?
Experts say open lines of communication, age limits and, if necessary, activity monitoring are some of the steps parents can take to help kids navigate the dangers of social media while still allowing them to chat with peers on their own terms.
Experts also suggest that parents go through their own social media feeds with their children before they are old enough to be online and have open discussions on what they see. How would your child handle a situation where a friend of a friend asks them to send a photo? Or if they see an article that makes them so angry they just want to share it right away?
RELATED: Social media platforms failing to stop hate, threats against LGBTQ users, report says
Don’t say things like "turn that thing off" when your kid has been scrolling for a long time, says Jean Rogers, the director of Fairplay, a nonprofit that advocates for kids to spend less time on digital devices.
"That’s not respectful," Rogers said. "It doesn’t respect that they have a whole life and a whole world in that device."
Instead, Rogers suggests asking them questions about what they do on their phone, and see what your child is willing to share.
Kids are also likely to respond to parents and educators "pulling back the curtains" on social media and the sometimes insidious tools companies use to keep people online and engaged. Watch a documentary like "The Social Dilemma" that explores algorithms, dark patterns and dopamine feedback cycles of social media. Or read up with them how Facebook and TikTok make money.
Parents may need their own limits on phone use. Rogers said it’s helpful to explain what you are doing when you do have a phone in hand around your child so they understand you are not aimlessly scrolling through sites like Instagram. Tell your child that you’re checking work email, looking up a recipe for dinner or paying a bill so they understand you’re not on there just for fun. Then tell them when you plan to put the phone down.
FOX News and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles. | https://www.fox29.com/news/mother-sues-facebook-claiming-harm-to-addicted-teenage-daughter | 2022-08-02T21:32:10 | en | 0.953504 |
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ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — As we draw near to the general election in November, Capitol Correspondent Amal Tlaige spoke with both Republican candidates for Attorney General and New York State Comptroller. While trailing behind in polls, both candidates are optimistic about their chances.
A recent Siena Poll shows Democratic State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli leading his Republican candidate, Paul Rodriguez by 21 points. Additionally, Attorney General Letitia James leads Republican Michael Henry, 50 to 36. How are Republican candidates planning on closing the gap in polls? Michael Henry says one issue he’s focusing on is crime, “Our current Attorney General has been the spur of anti-police rhetoric, she’s against qualified immunity and even recently she said that when it comes to cashless bail she needs more credible data before she would support any changes, and quite frankly that’s a despicable mindset for the chief law enforcement officer of the state to have because credible data means victims, and one victim is one victim too many,” he said.
Henry says he’s going to communities that Republicans have not traditionally gone to and is focusing on issues that transcend party affiliation, “I was in Rochester yesterday unfortunately for the third police funeral of a slain police officer I’ve attended in the last few months. I am tired of going to these funerals, I am tired of talking to victims, I’m tired of meeting the mothers, the sisters, the brothers of people that were killed.”
Paul Rodriguez says there’s two jobs for the state comptroller: to be the primary watchdog for taxpayers and correctly handle the pension fund, “So I think we really need someone who’s an outsider who will really have the courage to hold to account those who are in power,” he said.
Back in March, the State Comptroller’s office released a report that showed the number of COVID related nursing home deaths was undercounted by at least 4100. Rodriguez explains some of the issues handling that, “The first recommendation was to give them more money. When has given a bureaucrat or a politician – giving them more money – ever made them more ethical, more competent or more honest in their job?”
Rodriguez says part of the issue is the one-party rule with Democrats making up the super majority in New York State. He also says there’s a lack of ethics and accountability in New York politics he’s happy to tackle. | https://www.news10.com/news/statewide-gop-candidates-talk-key-campaign-issues/ | 2022-08-02T21:32:16 | en | 0.970993 |
Portion of Pennsauken Creek runs red after food dye discharged from nearby plant, officials say
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Officials in South Jersey say an incident involving food dye at a water treatment plant caused a local creek to run red, sparking confusion among residents Tuesday afternoon.
The south branch of Pennsauken Creek, runs between two neighborhoods in Cherry Hill. Officials with the Evesham Municipal Utility Authority tell FOX 29's Chris O'Connell that red food dye was discharged from a nearby plant at some point.
Officials say the dye is not hazardous and the Department of Environmental Protection has responded.
Evesham Municipal Utility Authority says staff noticed that "the treated effluent being discharged at the Woodstream Waste Water Treatment Plant had a strange, bright red color" around 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.
After further investigation, officials say they discovered that a local beverage manufacturer as had "improperly dumped red food dye into the waste water system."
SkyFOX spotted the creek near Green Acre Drive, with its red water running several miles.
In a statement shared on social media the Evesham Municipal Utilities Authority reassured residents living around the Woodstream Waste Water Treatment Plant located in Evesham Township, that there is currently no risk to public health as a result of the incident.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. | https://www.fox29.com/news/portion-of-pennsauken-creek-runs-red-after-food-dye-discharged-from-nearby-plant-officials-say | 2022-08-02T21:32:16 | en | 0.957881 |
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Stress and the brain: Study finds certain types of stress can benefit your mind
WASHINGTON - Stress is a burden for many based on the mental and physical toll it can take, but a new study from the University of Georgia suggests that not all stress is necessarily bad and can even help your brain.
The study reveals that low to moderate stress levels can bolster brain function and build mental resilience, lowering the risk of mental health disorders like depression and antisocial behavior.
Assaf Oshri, a lead author of the study and an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer for the University of Georgia, collaborated with three authors; two from UGA and one from Stanford University.
RELATED: Americans feeling the stress from inflation
The researchers used data from the Human Connectome Project, a national project funded by the National Institutes of Health focusing on human brain functions. The project involved more than 1,200 young adults who were asked questions about their stress levels for the report.
Oshri explained to FOX Television Stations that participants in the UGA study went through surveys and neurocognitive tests.
Participants in the study answered questions about their feelings, including how often they felt upset about something and how they felt if they were unable to cope when tasked with doing something.
RELATED: Stressed out: 4 in 10 women have reached their ‘breaking point,’ survey says
Researchers compared the findings from the Human Connectome Project with the participants’ responses to tests evaluating anxious feelings, attention problems, and aggression.
"Our study shows that there are associations between lower levels of stress and cognitive benefits. How people think and how they remember," Oshri said. "But certain levels of stress may lead to risk for antisocial behavior."
"The mechanism we tested looks at how your brain reacts to lower levels of stress. Low to moderate levels of stress are associated with lower levels of mental health problems and improved cognitive function, which can apply to adults and kids. Not all stressors are a good thing, but some stress can help with building strength and resistance to future stress."
RELATED: Detroit is the second-most stressed city in America, study finds
Oshri says the study shows that some stress can be related to positive outcomes because it could help someone cope and deal with any potential future stress.
"When you realize that stress is affecting your functioning, your well-being and mental health, it’s not good for you. If you’re able to respond, reorganize and cope, then it might be beneficial. There are individual differences in how much people can sustain stress. It depends on the resources, personality, the network you have to help you manage stress. We’re all different and we have different coping mechanisms to help us deal with stress."
While Oshri maintains that managing your stress levels to avoid it becoming "overwhelming or toxic" takes precedence, he says the best way to relieve stress is through physical activities like exercise to "refuel your tank."
This story was reported from Washington, D.C. | https://www.fox29.com/news/study-types-of-stress-benefit-brain | 2022-08-02T21:32:22 | en | 0.958204 |
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The Philadelphia Fringe Festival returns this September
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Fringe Festival has been occurring for over 25 years. This year, the Fringe Festival will return on September 8th through October 2nd, with more than 200 productions that celebrate the innovation and creativity demonstrated in contemporary performances.
The festival will include over 1,000 performances produced by hundreds of independent artists and the FringeArts. Performances will be held all throughout Philadelphia, including FringeArts Theater and the Philadelphia Film Center.
This year's celebration will include live theatrical performances, dance performances, circus acts, art galleries, and more.
A majority of performances will be conducted in-person, however limited virtual options are also available.
Tickets for FringeArts members go on sale Friday, August 5th. Tickets will open to the public on Monday, August 8th.
For more information on the Fringe Festival click here. | https://www.fox29.com/news/the-philadelphia-fringe-festival-returns-this-september | 2022-08-02T21:32:28 | en | 0.945914 |
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Unsealed Depp v. Heard court docs reveal ‘Aquaman’ actress was 'exotic dancer'
Newly unsealed court papers reveal that Amber Heard had a "brief stint as an exotic dancer," and her ex-husband Johnny Depp did not want his friendship with disgraced rocker Marilyn Manson outed at trial.
After Johnny Depp won his defamation case against Amber Heard with a jury awarding him $10.35 million, Judge Penney Azcarate ordered the release of the secret documents on July 13.
The documents were published online over the weekend by legal commentator Andrea Burkhart, who crowd-sourced more than $3,300 to purchase the records.
The court papers detail the behind-the-scenes wrangling on both sides to try to get evidence admitted and kept out of the Fairfax County Circuit trial in Virginia.
A March 22 motion outlined Heard’s opposition to Depp’s team’s attempt to present damaging information about her past to the jury.
Heard's lawyer Elaine Bredehoft argued that Depp was trying to introduce "irrelevant personal matters" – including "Amber’s brief stint as an exotic dancer years before she met Mr. Depp," nude pictures of her and "unfounded allegations" that she had worked as a sex worker.
"Nude pictures of Amber Heard or comments about stripping or escort services would be highly distracting and unfairly prejudicial to the extent they portray Amber Heard as a sex symbol instead of a women's rights activist against domestic abuse," Bredehoft wrote.
TOPSHOT - US actress Amber Heard waits before the jury announced a split verdict in favor of both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard on their claim and counter-claim in the Depp v. Heard civil defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fai
Heard’s team also fought to keep out Heard's sister Whitney Henriquez's "reality show video." None of these "personal matters" were introduced at trial.
A 965-page motion filed March 28 also revealed crude text messages between Depp and Marilyn Manson that were never presented to the jury.
Depp’s attorney, Ben Chew, aggressively fought to exclude any references to the actor's friendship with Manson, whose real names is Brian Warner, out of concern it would "smear Mr. Depp under a guilty by association theory."
Manson texted Depp in 2016 to say that Lindsay Usich "pulled an Amber," in reference to Manson's now-wife Usich calling the cops on him and claiming he beat her up. He described her as "Amber 2.0."
Depp responded, "I've been reading A LOT of material on that and sociopathic behavior…it is f—king real my brother!! My ex-c—-t is goddamn TEXTBOOK!!!."
Manson was blacklisted in the music industry after a number of women accused him of physical, mental and sexual abuse — including his former fiancé "Westworld" actress Evan Rachel Wood. He sued her for defamation in March.
Although the vulgar texts did not come in during the trial, Manson’s name did repeatedly crop up with the "Aquaman" actress' team painting her then-husband as a drug addict who went on cocaine-fueled binges with the heavy metal rocker.
After the six-week trial, the seven-member panel found that Heard had defamed Depp by penning a Washington Post op-ed referring to herself as a victim of domestic abuse and awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive. The judge reduced the punitive damages award to $350,000 – the maximum allowed under Virginia law.
The jury awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit, finding in her favor on a single claim that Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman had defamed her in a statement to the press calling her allegations a "hoax."
Both sides are appealing the verdict. | https://www.fox29.com/news/unsealed-depp-v-heard-court-docs-reveal-aquaman-actress-was-exotic-dancer | 2022-08-02T21:32:34 | en | 0.975742 |
Virgin Galactic to build ‘astronaut campus’ for future commercial space travel
TUSTIN, Calif. - Virgin Galactic announced Tuesday that it has secured land to build an astronaut and campus facility to prepare civilians for commercial space travel.
The aerospace and space travel company said the astronaut campus will be located in Sierra County, New Mexico, near the company’s commercial operations headquarters, Spaceport America.
The company said the space will accommodate future astronauts and up to three of its guests ahead of their flight into space.
RELATED: Virgin Galactic reopens spaceflight ticket sales
The campus will feature training facilities, an observatory, a wellness center, and recreation activities as well as dining options. The company said buildings will have minimal impact on the surrounding environment with water conservation tools and re-use, eco-friendly materials.
"At Virgin Galactic, the road to space begins in New Mexico, and we are proud to showcase the state as the launch point for our unique and unparalleled experience," Blair Rich, Virgin Galactic President & Chief Business Officer, Commercial and Consumer Operations, said in a news release.
"Customers who buy a ticket today will stay and train here, along with their guests, for five nights. While our Future Astronauts are completing spaceflight training, their guests will live out a tailored itinerary of discovery and educational experiences on the campus and throughout southern New Mexico," he continued.
Company leaders said the conceptual design of the campus has already begun but didn’t give a specific date as to when it will open.
RELATED: Debris from uncontrolled, 23-ton Chinese rocket falls to Earth
The ticket window is open again for space flights at Virgin Galactic, with prices starting at $450,000 a seat.
The company’s next spaceflight is scheduled for late September in New Mexico with the Italian air force.
Unlike Blue Origin’s and SpaceX’s fully automated capsules launched from the ground by reusable rockets, Virgin Galactic uses a winged spacecraft that launches from the belly of an airplane and requires a pair of pilots. It’s reached space three times since 2018. The second trip carried a third company employee.
Last month, Virgin Galactic announced it had selected the Phoenix suburb of Mesa as the site where it will assemble its next class of rocket ships with the facility capable of producing up to six spaceships per year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles. | https://www.fox29.com/news/virgin-galatic-to-build-astronaut-campus-for-future-commercial-space-travel | 2022-08-02T21:32:40 | en | 0.958562 |
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Lebanon mayor Mark Messer and his family lost their home to a late-night fire nearly a year ago and had filed a lawsuit in Warren County against their insurance carrier, claiming breach of contract and bad faith, and seeking a declaratory judgment.
They claimed their insurance carrier, Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company, was dragging its feet and delayed claims handling, according to the lawsuit.
The insurance carrier, Allstate, which investigated the loss of the home and personal property that was destroyed in the fire, says in denying the claims that they were the result of the Messers’ “intentional and fraudulent acts and, as a result, the policy contract is invalid.”
The Messers’ lawsuit filed in June in Warren County Common Pleas Court was moved July 28 to the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
Around midnight on Aug. 14, 2021, the Messers’ house at 25 W. Orchard Ave. caught fire. The house and the personal property inside were destroyed as a result. In court documents, the Messers provided a sworn statement in proof of loss of at least $506,417.
The Lebanon Fire Division referred the fire investigation to the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest because Messer was the city’s vice mayor at the time of the incident. Andy Ellinger, a spokesman for the State Fire Marshal confirmed their investigation is continuing and had no updates to share Tuesday.
In a June 29, 2022 letter to the Messers, Allstate acknowledged the lawsuit filed in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
The letter said Allstate had concluded its investigation of the loss and damage from the fire and “determined the policy does not provide coverage for your Claim because (1) the intentional act exclusion operates to preclude coverage, (2) you misrepresented and/or concealed information material to Allstate’s investigation, and (3) you breached your duty to cooperate.”
“The evidence Allstate obtained through its investigation indicates it is more likely than not the subject fire was caused by the intentional acts of or at the direction of an insured person and the resulting loss was the reasonably expected and/or intended result of such acts,” the letter said. “In light of that determination, the above Policy provision operates to exclude coverage for your claim.”
Allstate said the policy contains a provision relevant to misrepresentation, fraud, or concealment. It also said the Messers did not cooperate with Allstate’s investigation in obtaining various documents and other information.
Messer declined to comment on the litigation Monday night at a city council work session. He said in a joint statement from he and his wife Jennifer that they provided information to Allstate Insurance Company in an effort to rebuild their house and their life.
“Allstate refused every request we made to obtain information about the fire,” the Messers’ statement said. “Allstate has refused to honor their commitment to stand by their insured in times of tragedy. Because of Allstate’s failure to fulfill their contractual commitment, we were forced to file a lawsuit against Allstate for their breach of contract and bad claims handling.
“Only after they were sued, did Allstate respond in an effort to cover-up their failure to protect their insured in this tragedy by formulating false and salacious allegations. We look forward to presenting this case in court and holding Allstate accountable to their insured,” the statement said.
Messer’s attorney, Matthew Brown, had no additional comments to the statement issued Monday night.
Attorneys for Allstate could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
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A federal judge on Tuesday tossed out a public records lawsuit on the 2020 census based on a Webster's dictionary definition of one obscure word: “whereby.”
The lawsuit was over an even more obscure concept: how a statistical method was used to fill in details when information was lacking about people residing in dorms, nursing homes, prisons and other group living spaces.
A Republican-leaning redistricting advocacy group had sued the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department, which oversees the statistical agency, in an effort to get records showing by state the number of times the statistical method was used for group quarters. Fair Lines America Foundation had said it had “significant implications for our nation’s redistricting and electoral process” and demanded transparency in how the method was implemented.
In group quarters, the method known as imputation involves using already available information about the facility, such as its maximum capacity, to fill in missing details.
People living in group quarters were particularly difficult to count during the 2020 census because the coronavirus pandemic sent college students fleeing campuses and put nursing homes and prisons in lockdown. In response, the Census Bureau unexpectedly decided to use the statistical technique for group housing, where about 3% of the U.S. population lives. Because of concerns over the group quarters count during the pandemic, the Census Bureau set up a separate program for governments to appeal that count in their jurisdictions.
The census determines how many congressional seats each state gets, as well as the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year.
The Census Bureau had argued that releasing the records to Fair Lines would violate a law protecting census participants' privacy and confidentiality. Bad actors could reconstruct the larger data set and identify people's private information if the information was released, the statistical agency argued.
In her order, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson conceded that releasing the aggregated data itself wouldn't jeopardize participants' privacy or confidentiality. But the law prohibits “‘any publication whereby the data furnished by any particular establishment or individual under this title can be identified,'" she wrote, quoting from the law.
“The interpretation of this sentence hinges on the word ‘whereby,'" she wrote.
Citing a Webster's dictionary definition from 1953, a year before the law was enacted, the judge said the meaning of ‘whereby' led her to believe that publication of the data was prohibited. An attorney for Fair Lines didn't respond to an email and text seeking comment.
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Washington (AP) — The number of people living in America without health insurance coverage hit an all-time low of 8 percent this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
“Every American has the right to the peace of mind that comes with access to affordable, quality health care,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday about the record-low rate of uninsured Americans.
The findings come days after Democrats hammered out a 725-page climate, health care and tax deal that would extend generous federal subsidies for people who buy private health insurance that are credited with driving down the uninsured rates. Democrats have proposed spending $64 billion to extend those price breaks for three more years.
The drop in uninsured Americans began last year, when Congress and Biden signed off on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that lowered premiums and out-of-pocket costs for new or returning customers purchasing plans through the Affordable Care Act's private health insurance markets.
The uninsured rate fell to just under 9 percent last year with the improved subsidies. The Biden administration also began to step up advertising and increased the number of counselors who helped sign up people for plans during the open enrollment season last year.
Prior to last year, the uninsured rate had consistently remained in the double digits for decades. The number of uninsured Americans began dropping after the ACA, which expanded Medicaid and offers health insurance to people who lack job-based coverage through a mix of subsidized private plans, was enacted in 2010.
Roughly 26 million people remain without health insurance in the U.S. Just under 2 percent of children are now uninsured.
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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres acquired superstar outfielder Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals on Tuesday in one of baseball's biggest deals at the trade deadline, vaulting their postseason chances by adding one of the game's best young hitters.
The Padres also obtained first baseman Josh Bell while sending a haul of players to Washington that included rookie left-hander MacKenzie Gore, first baseman/DH Luke Voit and prospects James Wood, C.J. Abrams, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana.
Voit was a late addition to the deal after San Diego first baseman Eric Hosmer declined to waive a no-trade provision, according to a person with direct knowledge of the move who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing at the time.
After reeling in Soto, a generational talent who turns 24 in late October, San Diego general manager A.J. Preller also acquired infielder Brandon Drury from Cincinnati. The Padres sent minor league shortstop Victor Acosta to the Reds for the 29-year-old Drury, who has a career-high 20 homers this year.
After contributing to the Nationals’ first championship in franchise history in 2019, Soto hit .351 in 2020 to win the NL batting title. He has been walked more than any other player in major league baseball over the past two seasons.
“The atmosphere here is they want to win, and not just go to the playoffs but win a World Series,” said All-Star closer Josh Hader, who was obtained by San Diego on Monday in another big deal with Milwaukee. “That's a contagious atmosphere to be a part of.”
San Diego began the season with a luxury tax payroll of $229.3 million, just below the first threshold, and the trades push the Padres into tax territory for the second straight season. Soto is owed $5,978,022 for the rest of this season and Bell $3,516,844.
The package of prospects going to Washington is one of the most touted groups ever involved in one deal. Gore and Abrams debuted in San Diego this season after ranking among the sport's elite minor leaguers, Hassell and Wood are both top 100 prospects according to MLB.com, and Susana was considered the best pitcher available in the 2021-22 international free agent class.
Washington general manager Mike Rizzo set a lofty asking price last month after reports emerged that Soto rejected the team’s latest contract offer of $440 million over 15 years.
“We set the bar very, very high, and one team exceeded it and that’s the deal we made,” Rizzo said. “Props to the San Diego Padres. They’re not afraid, and ownership’s not afraid and A.J. Preller’s not afraid and they were aggressive and we made a deal that you call historical.”
Soto remains under team control for two more seasons after this one, which made it no sure thing the Nationals would trade him now. The Padres getting him for potentially three playoff runs even absent a new deal made this the peak of Soto’s value.
That uncertainty began weighing on Soto, who said after Sunday’s game against St. Louis: “I just want to get it over with and see what’s going to happen. Start over here or wherever I’m at.”
He gets to start over in San Diego in the midst of his second All-Star season, part of a loaded lineup that also includes All-Star Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. when the shortstop returns from a broken left wrist.
“It's pretty impressive to have those three types of guys on one team in the same lineup,” said Wil Myers, the Padres' longest-tenured player. “Excited to see that trio, hopefully in the next week or two.”
Tatis could be 10 days to two weeks away from being added to the active roster.
With little protection around him in Washington’s lineup, Soto hit .246 with 20 home runs and 45 RBIs and 91 walks in 101 games.
In 2,435 plate appearances since making his Nationals debut in 2018, Soto is batting .291 with 118 home runs and 357 RBIs. He’s only a couple of years removed from slugging .695 with a 1.185 OPS and .490 on-base percentage — all NL bests.
Soto becomes the latest Nationals player to be traded as part of the organization’s long-term rebuild and with ownership looking to sell the team. Rizzo traded shortstop Trea Turner, ace Max Scherzer, power hitter Kyle Schwarber and five others at the deadline last year, and Washington has let Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and others move on in free agency.
The quintet of young players coming from San Diego could join the ones acquired last year — including pitcher Josiah Gray and catcher Keibert Ruiz — as the core of Washington's next contender.
Gore, a 23-year-old left-handed pitcher, had a 1.50 ERA through his first nine starts this year but is now on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Abrams struggled as a fill-in for injured Tatis at shortstop to begin the season, but he's only 21 and has hit .314 at Triple-A.
The 20-year-old Hassell, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft, hit an RBI single in last month’s All-Star Futures Game. Wood, a 19-year-old outfielder and second-round selection in last year’s draft, is batting .321 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs for Class-A Lake Elsinore. Susana, an 18-year-old right-hander, has a 2.45 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings with San Diego's complex league team.
“We were fortunate that it was a well-rounded trade,” Rizzo said. “We’ve got two pitchers, two outfielders and a shortstop, which fit our needs perfectly.”
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Whyno reported from Washington.
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum also contributed to this report.
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“No, I don’t think you’re an actor,” Jones responded before the judge admonished him to be quiet until called to testify.
Lewis continued trying to impress on Jones that the Sandy Hook shooting and trauma inflicted in the decade since then was real.
“It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this — that we have to implore you, to punish you — to get you to stop lying,” Lewis said. “I am so glad this day is here. I’m actually relieved. And grateful... that I got to say all this to you.”
Jones visibly shook his head several times while Scarlett Lewis was addressing him.
Heslin and Lewis are among several Sandy Hook families who have filed several lawsuits alleging that Sandy Hook hoax claims pushed by Jones have led to years of abuse by Jones and his followers.
Heslin and Lewis both said they fear for their lives and have been confronted by strangers at home and on the street. Heslin said his home and car have been shot at. The jury heard a death threat sent via telephone message to another Sandy Hook family.
“I can’t even describe the last nine and a half years, the living hell that I and others have had to endure because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones,” Heslin said.
Scarlett Lewis also described threatening emails that seemed to have uncovered deep details of her personal life.
“It’s fear for your life,” Scarlett Lewis said. “You don’t know what they were going to do.”
Heslin said he didn’t know if the Sandy Hook hoax conspiracy theory originated with Jones, but it was Jones who “lit the match and started the fire” with an online platform and broadcast that reached millions worldwide.
“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world,” Heslin said. “As time went on, I truly realized how dangerous it was.”
Jones skipped Heslin’s morning testimony while he was on his show — a move Heslin dismissed as “cowardly” — but arrived in the courtroom for part of Scarlett Lewis’ testimony. He was accompanied by several private security guards.
“Today is very important to me and it’s been a long time coming... to face Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore the honor and legacy of my son,” Heslin said when Jones wasn’t there.
Heslin told the jury about holding his son with a bullet hole through his head, even describing the extent of the damage to his son’s body. A key segment of the case is a 2017 Infowars broadcast that said Heslin didn’t hold his son.
The jury was shown a school picture of a smiling Jesse taken two weeks before he was killed. The parents didn’t receive the photo until after the shooting. They described how Jesse was known for telling classmates to “run!” which likely saved lives.
An apology from Jones wouldn’t be good enough, the parents said.
“Alex started this fight,” Heslin said, “and I’ll finish this fight.”
Jones later took the stand himself, initially being combative with the judge who had asked him to answer his own attorney's question. Jones testified he had long wanted to apologize to the plaintiffs.
“I never intentionally tried to hurt you. I never said your name until this came to court," Jones said. "The internet had questions, I had questions.”
Heslin and Lewis suffer from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that comes from constant trauma, similar to that endured by soldiers in war zones or child abuse victims, a forensic psychologist who studied their cases and met with them testified Monday.
Jones has portrayed the lawsuit against him as an attack on his First Amendment rights.
At stake in the trial is how much Jones will pay. The parents have asked the jury to award $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury will then consider whether Jones and his company will pay punitive damages.
The trial is just one of several Jones faces.
Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax. In both states, judges issued default judgements against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.
Jones has already tried to protect Free Speech Systems financially. The company filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week. Sandy Hook families have separately sued Jones over his financial claims, arguing that the company is trying to protect millions owned by Jones and his family through shell entities.
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For more of the AP's coverage of school shootings: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings
Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional during his testimony during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional during his testimony during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional during his testimony during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional during his testimony during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, appears in court during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, appears in court during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Andino Reynal, lawyer for Alex Jones, questions Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, about his previous testimony in court Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Andino Reynal, lawyer for Alex Jones, questions Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, about his previous testimony in court Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ
Wesley Ball questions Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, about the harassment she received from InfoWars viewers during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Wesley Ball questions Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, about the harassment she received from InfoWars viewers during the trial for Alex Jones, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Credit: BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022. The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has testified that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims the murders were a hoax. Neil Heslin testified Tuesday that he fears for his life because of Jones' claims. Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Credit: Briana Sanchez
Credit: Briana Sanchez | https://www.journal-news.com/nation-world/sandy-hook-parents-alex-jones-claims-created-living-hell/VBQT6TJGMVDUHGB33QNCPL5C2I/ | 2022-08-02T21:41:43 | en | 0.967819 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill enhancing health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits is expected to win final approval in the Senate on Tuesday, ending a brief stalemate over the measure that had infuriated advocates and inspired some to camp outside the Capitol.
President Joe Biden has pushed for the legislation, saying the measure “makes good on our sacred obligation" to care for veterans and their families.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the legislation once before, but it required a do-over for a technical fix. But the process derailed when Republicans made a late attempt to change another aspect of the bill last week and blocked it from advancing. The abrupt delay outraged veterans groups and advocates, including comedian Jon Stewart. It also placed GOP senators in the uncomfortable position of delaying the top legislative priority of service organizations this session of Congress.
A group of veterans and their families have been camping out at the Capitol since that vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he had good news for them, announcing a final vote for Tuesday evening.
“Veterans who were exposed to the toxic fumes of burn pits will be treated by the VA like they should have been from the beginning," Schumer said.
Some Democrats have questioned whether Republicans blocked the bill for spite, after an announcement just hours earlier that key Democrats had agreed on a way forward on a health, energy and tax bill that Republicans oppose and may be unable to stop.
“Wait a minute. You’re not going to help our veterans because we want to lower the cost of prescription drugs, because we want to lower the cost of health care, because we want to protect the planet? Of course you don’t agree with any of those things, but would you use that to vote against our veterans?” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a press conference last week. “It’s really immoral, almost criminal.”
Republican senators rejected that charge and said the changes they seek would not affect spending for veterans in the bill.
The bill contains two major components for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans who served near burn pits will get 10 years — rather than five — of enhanced health care coverage through the Department of Veterans Affairs upon their separation from the military.
Second, the legislation directs the VA to presume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers were related to burn pit exposure, allowing veterans to obtain disability payments to compensate for their injury without having to prove the illness was a result of their service.
Roughly 70% of disability claims related to burn pit exposure are denied by the VA due to lack of evidence, scientific data and information from the Defense Department.
The military used burn pits to dispose of such things as chemicals, cans, tires, plastics and medical and human waste.
Hundreds of thousands of Vietnam War era veterans and survivors also stand to benefit from the legislation. The bill adds hypertension, or high blood pressure, as a presumptive disease associated with Agent Orange exposure. The Congressional Budget Office projected that about 600,000 of 1.6 million living Vietnam vets would be eligible for increased compensation, though only about half would have a severe enough diagnoses to warrant more compensation.
Also, veterans who served in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll will be presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange. That's another 50,000 veterans and survivors of deceased veterans who would get compensation for illnesses presumed to have been caused by their exposure to the herbicide, the CBO projected.
The bill is projected to increase federal deficits by about $277 billion over 10 years and does not include offsetting spending cuts or tax increases to help pay for it.
When the CBO scored the bill, it projected that nearly $400 billion spent on VA services would take place as mandatory spending rather than discretionary spending. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, said a reclassification to mandatory would “both reduce the pressure to keep those costs under control and make it easier for appropriators to spend more elsewhere in the budget without offsets.”
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is seeking a vote for an amendment that he said would not change the spending slated for veterans programs, but how the government accounts for that spending.
However, the dynamics Toomey has spoken about also applied to the bill when the Senate voted on it in June. Senators then voted for the measure by a resounding vote of 84-14, raising questions about why Republicans voted against advancing the do-over effort last week.
Advocacy groups for veterans, a key voting bloc in the upcoming midterm elections, were furious and ramped up the political pressure on lawmakers to act.
At a Capitol Hill news conference the day after last week’s procedural vote, speakers used terms such as “villains” and “reprehensible” to describe the Republican senators who voted against advancing the measure last week but voted for almost the exact same bill in June.
“Veterans are angry and confused at the sudden change from those they thought had their backs,” said Cory Titus of the group Military Officers Association of America.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the veterans camped out at the Capitol are exhausted and want to go home.
“But they will not. They will not go home until the job is done," Gillibrand said.
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite | https://www.journal-news.com/nation-world/senate-tees-up-vote-on-bill-to-aid-vets-exposed-to-burn-pits/KSTM5LFJBVCM7P4YLBSQXGLB5I/ | 2022-08-02T21:41:44 | en | 0.965042 |
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