Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Parents Sue Louisiana Sheriff and Deputies Over Autistic Son’s Death – The New York Times

The suit, filed in United States District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, came a year after the death of the teenager, Eric Parsa, who had severe autism. Eric, 16, died on Jan. 19, 2020, after being held down, sat on and handcuffed by deputies in a shopping center parking lot after he had an autism-related meltdown, an outburst resulting from emotional or sensory overload, according to lawyers representing his parents, Daren Parsa and Donna Lou.

In the lawsuit, Dr. Parsa and Dr. Lou charge that the authorities exhibited negligence and used excessive force while also violating their son’s civil rights and his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Never did we ever think that our 16-year-old son with special needs would die in front of our eyes at this age and in the hands of law enforcement,” Dr. Lou said at a news conference on Thursday with her husband and their lawyers. “Unfortunately, it is our reality of a nightmare.”

Coronavirus variant could become dominant strain by March, CDC warns

Modeling work done by CDC scientists suggests that unless the pace of vaccination of the population increases dramatically and people adhere stringently to Covid-19 control measures, the new variant will spread rapidly. The work was reported Friday in the CDC’s online journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“We’re concerned,” Jay Butler, CDC’s deputy director for infectious diseases, told STAT. “We want to sound the alarm and urge people to continue to do the things that we know work.”

Source: Coronavirus variant could become dominant strain by March, CDC warns

Florida in ‘full COVID-19 resurgence,’ White House Task Force report says | WFLA (trusting your “luck” does not work, masks do)

The Florida Department of Health recorded 13,720 new cases on Thursday and marked the third straight day of more than 400 new hospitalizations.

“Almost 7,800,” Salemi said, “that’s the highest single-day number of current hospitalizations since early August.”

The White House Task Force recommends even more testing of young adults to prevent the “silent asymptomatic spread” to family members.

During a conversation with Mayor Jane Castor on Wednesday, Dr. Jason Wilson from Tampa General Hospital said he’s observed that after Thanksgiving gatherings.

“I want to echo this really serious issue of the burden of guilt and tragedy when a family member or friend gives somebody else COVID and this is a reality that we’re facing,” Dr. Wilson said.

Source: Florida in ‘full COVID-19 resurgence,’ White House Task Force report says | WFLA

Cleveland temporarily closes all non-emergency downtown buildings ahead of protests planned for Inauguration Day

“As a loyal American, I’m outraged that we have to do this,” said Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek. “That we have federal troops having to ring the capitol building and other government buildings and facilities, it just, it’s outrageous that in 2021 we have to go through this we have to worry about domestic terrorism.”

From Monday through Wednesday, all city of Cleveland neighborhood recreation centers will shut down.

All of this is being done in an abundance of caution ahead of the protests planned across the country on Inauguration Day.

Councilman Polensek says he still feels sick to his stomach after watching the violence unfold at our nation’s capital.

“If you wanna do the crime, be prepared to do the time,” Polensek said. “This is the stuff you see in the dictatorial countries, and there’s no place for it in America, and again, as loyal Americans, we need to rise up together, link hands and arms, and say enough is enough, and we move forward.”

Source: Cleveland temporarily closes all non-emergency downtown buildings ahead of protests planned for Inauguration Day

As new COVID-19 cases emerge in Chicago Public Schools, families plead for reinstatement of locked-out teachers – Chicago Tribune

In addition to staff members who don’t trust the district to implement COVID-19 precautions and are refusing to report to buildings they believe are unsafe, the district has had to deal with coronavirus cases, quarantines and failed health screens.

The number of failed employee health screens dipped below 200 on Wednesday for the first time since staff returned on Jan. 4. Cumulatively, 2,240 health screen have been failed since then, but data provided by CPS does not make clear how much that reflects those who’ve failed multiple times.

CPS has also acknowledged a “potential cluster”at McCutcheon Elementary, where two cases have been reported among staff members and another eight are under quarantine.

The first employee was last at school Jan. 7 and notified the district of a positive COVID-19 test the next day, according to CPS. Over the weekend, contact tracers identified and notified close contacts, asking six staff members to quarantine, CPS said. The second case, confirmed Wednesday, involved one of those close contacts, who did not report to school Monday. Contact tracers identified two close contacts of the second case who were not also contacts of the first case and asked them to quarantine as well.

“Because of the protocols in place, which are designed to prevent spread, all close contacts were told to quarantine for 14 days,” CPS spokeswoman Emily Bolton said in a statement. “While the district cannot rule out the possibility of in-school transmission, it also cannot rule out the possibility that these cases were acquired in the community, outside of school.”

The Chicago Teachers Union, however, does not think the district has handled the cases well.

“In the midst of a COVID outbreak that surfaced last Friday, four days after CPS began forcing pre-K and special education cluster teachers back into buildings, educators at McCutcheon Elementary report that the school is in chaos,” the CTU claimed in a news release Thursday. “Most teachers who had reported to work last week are now in quarantine, leaving just one educator in the building. CPS waited until Sunday evening to notify educators, and didn’t tell parents about the outbreak until yesterday afternoon.”

Source: As new COVID-19 cases emerge in Chicago Public Schools, families plead for reinstatement of locked-out teachers – Chicago Tribune

Chicago mariachi family known as Cielito Lindo facing eviction in Andersonville; community raises over $25K – ABC7 Chicago

The band with kids from ages 7 to 18 had performances canceled due to the pandemic. So a neighbor asked Juan Lucero if he could start an online fundraiser. In 24 hours, over $25,000 was donated to the family

“I want to say thank you to them,” daughter Maya Lucero said. “I can’t believe this many people helped us out I’m speechless.”

“It can be hard to ask for help, but I’m glad we did,” son Diego Lucero said. “It makes me happy.” Source: Chicago mariachi family known as Cielito Lindo facing eviction in Andersonville; community raises over $25K – ABC7 Chicago

New Boston-area sewage samples show record high signs of COVID-19 | Boston.com

Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told WCVB NewsCenter 5. “The wastewater tends to precede the number of cases. So if they’re seeing an uptick in the titers in wastewater, I’m quite concerned that in the next week or two we’re going to see a parallel increase in the number of diagnoses.” Source: New Boston-area sewage samples show record high signs of COVID-19 | Boston.com

Somewhere, Someplace

yaskhan

Somewhere between
Aloneness and solitude-
The sound of an ambulance.

ICU
The oxygen
A lifeline.

Primitive night~
The day never 
Prepares you for this.

Lost for words~~
The pause between breaths:
Filled with 
Memories.

Fragments of thoughts;
Caught in the 
Lines of a poem.

The rhythm of 
Falling rain~~
My head fills 
With words.

Somewhere, someplace-
We all dream 
Under the same moon....

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No Accident

Lingua: Ex Libris Life

(The Miseducation of America)

It’s no accident, that

You learned about Helen Keller
instead of W.E.B. DuBois, and the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not those in Tulsa or Wilmington; or, that

You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth of slaves; or, that

You learned about the New Deal and black ghettos, but never about redlining and Black Wall Street.

It’s no accident, that

You heard and learned about “black on black crime,” but white criminals have never been lumped together and discussed in such terms as their race, creed, color, or gender identity; or, that

You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, fought to preserve the Union, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.

It’s no accident, that

Privilege is having history rewritten
so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable…

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