Friday 30 April 2021
What's the 'best state'? Poll ranks U.S. states from best to worst
(NEXSTAR) - What's the best state in the U.S.?
According to a survey conducted by data analytics firm YouGov, Hawaii, the land of beaches and warm weather, takes the top spot.
Hawaii was followed by Colorado, Virginia and Nevada.
The survey polled 1,211 American adults and asked them to choose the better of two states from a list of all 50 states in a "head-to-head matchup."
Sixty-nine percent of respondents said Hawaii was the "best state."
The top ten best states include:
- Hawaii
- Colorado
- Virginia
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Florida
- Arizona
- New York
- Georgia
- Texas
The bottom of the list included Mississippi and Alabama. Lastly, written in italics for its lack of statehood, is the District of Columbia.
See where your state ranks by clicking here.
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New $3,000 child tax credit: Payments to start in July – see if you're eligible
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — It's a strain, but the head of the IRS said Tuesday he expects to meet the July 1 deadline in the new pandemic relief law for starting a groundbreaking tax program aimed at reducing child poverty. That means new advance monthly payments of as much as $300 per child could begin flowing to lower-income families this summer.
In testimony at a Senate hearing, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said it will cost nearly $400 million and require the hiring of 300 to 500 people to get the new monthly payment system and electronic portal in place for the child tax credit. “The IRS will be working hard to deliver this program quickly and efficiently,” he said.
“We have to create a new structure,” Rettig said, adding that the tax-collecting IRS is “not historically” a benefits agency. The IRS, which has suffered budget cuts over the past decade, has been further burdened by the pandemic and the task of sending out hundreds of millions of economic stimulus payments in three rounds.
In embedding the expanded child tax credit in the $1.9 trillion rescue legislation enacted last month, Democrats sought to provide support to families affected by the coronavirus pandemic and parents forced to cut down on work or give up jobs to take care of children after losing access to childcare. Democrats view the tax change as an opportunity to address income inequality worsened by the pandemic. According to some academic estimates, it would reduce the number of children living in poverty in the U.S. by more than half.
It temporarily increases the existing child tax credit from a maximum $2,000 a year per child to $3,000 for each child aged 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under 6. It offers the option for families to receive advance monthly payments, rather than waiting for a lump sum based on the parents’ tax liability. The change will be in effect for a year under the rescue law; Democratic lawmakers have said they want to make it permanent.
Do you qualify for the child tax credit?
Individuals who make less than $75,000 or married couples who make less than $150,000 and file jointly will be eligible for the full tax credit per qualifying child.
Similar to the stimulus checks, the credit will phase out for people who make more than that, with individuals who earn $95,000 and married, joint-filers who make $170,000 not eligible for the financial boost.
If a family doesn’t qualify for the expanded child tax credit, they can still receive the $2,000 credit if the income level is below $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for married couples.
Republicans line up against tax credit payments
That has sparked criticism by Republicans, who have criticized the initiative as an expansion of the welfare state that removes the incentive for parents to seek work. They are expressing concern about fraud in the program and asking what the IRS will do to crack down on improper payments.
The new child tax credit “is not targeted to pandemic relief, and risks the loss of billions of taxpayer dollars in fraudulent and improper payments,” Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, wrote in letters to Biden administration officials.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was concerned that the new tax benefit will remake the IRS’ role into a “social welfare-oriented” agency.
Rettig, as the independent head of the IRS responsible for neutrally administering the benefit, isn’t taking a position with either side. While acknowledging the possibility of some fraud in the program, he said the IRS will be fully able to detect and weed it out.
In addition, he told the senators, the new electronic portal for processing the child tax payments “will be as user-friendly as possible.”
Rettig also acknowledged Tuesday that the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid is far larger than official government estimates had estimated. The IRS is now shorted about $1 trillion annually, about double the previous projections.
Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who pressed Rettig on the true size of the gap, called that “a jaw-dropping figure.”
Democrats are putting a spotlight on the so-called tax gap, which deprives the government of revenue that could be put to constructive uses for society. The top 10% of earners have accounted for most of the gap, experts say, by underreporting their liabilities, intentionally or not, as tax avoidance or outright evasion.
Wyden also cited the perception that the Internal Revenue Service has tended to audit taxpayers of modest means more aggressively than the wealthy — an accusation that Rettig denied.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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STD cases at 'all-time high,' CDC says
(NEXSTAR) - Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are at an all-time high, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday.
There were more than 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis -- the most commonly reported STDs -- in 2019.
That's a nearly 30-percent increase in reportable STDs between 2015 and 2019.
The STD caseload has been rising steadily for six years. Each previous year was reported as the all-time high for the year before.
The sharpest increase was in cases of syphilis among newborns, which quadrupled between 2015 and 2019, the CDC said.
Syphilis can be passed from mother to child in-utero.
“Less than 20 years ago, gonorrhea rates in the U.S. were at historic lows, syphilis was close to elimination, and advances in chlamydia diagnostics made it easier to detect infections,” said Raul Romaguera, DMD, MPH, acting director for CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, in a statement. “That progress has since unraveled, and our STD defenses are down. We must prioritize and focus our efforts to regain this lost ground and control the spread of STDs.”
The burden of STDs increased overall and across many groups in 2019. But it continued to hit racial and ethnic minority groups, gay and bisexual men, and youth the hardest.
The burden of STDs was especially high among ethnic minority groups, youth, gay and bisexual men, the CDC said.
Black people were 5 to 8 times more likely to have an STD than non-Hispanic white people, while Hispanic or Latino people were 1 to 2 times more likely.
Gay and bisexual men made up nearly half of all 2019 primary and secondary syphilis cases, and gonorrhea rates were 42 times that of heterosexual men in some areas.
The data was likewise stark for young people, aged 15 to 24. That population accounted for 61 percent of chlamydia cases and 42 percent of gonorrhea cases.
“Focusing on hard-hit populations is critical to reducing disparities,” said Jo Valentine, MSW, associate director of the Office of Health Equity in CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, in the statement. “To effectively reduce these disparities, the social, cultural, and economic conditions that make it more difficult for some populations to stay healthy must be addressed. These include poverty, unstable housing, drug use, lack of medical insurance or regular medical provider, and high burden of STDs in some communities.”
The CDC said that the COVID-19 pandemic has "exacerbated an already stretched system for STD control in the U.S."
It identified several "new and innovative ways" STD services can meet additional people, including STD express clinics, which provide walking testing and treatment; partnerships with pharmacies and retail health clinics; and telehealth, which can "close gaps in testing and treatment" and "ensure access to healthcare providers."
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Booing discouraged as California moves to reopen indoor events and performances
SACRAMENTO, California (KSEE/KGPE) - As California slowly reopens following COVID-19-related shutdowns, new guidelines were released ahead of the first day of state-permitted indoor seated live events and performances.
The guidelines specifically discourage audience members from booing, amid concerns that it will increase the likelihood of transmission of COVID-19. Those in attendance will also be discouraged from yelling, singing, chanting, and using noisemakers that need air (such as vuvuzelas).
Other state requirements are also in place, such as assigned seating to allow a six-foot gap between households, advanced ticket reservations, and in-state spectators only.
As of Thursday, California will allow indoor concerts and theater performances - with capacity limited depending on whichever tier the county is in.
The full guidance can be viewed here.
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WATCH: Beachgoers form human chain to save Gulf swimmers
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) — Bystanders on Panama City Beach formed a human chain after swimmers became stuck in a rip current in the Gulf on Wednesday afternoon.
Strangers Form Human Chain to Save Distressed Swimmers
According to witnesses, beachgoers noticed a child caught in a rip current, then several people swam into the water in an attempt to save her. The incident happened at about 12:45 p.m. near the Emerald Isle Beach Resort on Front Beach Road.
In the video, you can see dozens of people forming a chain by linking arms to save the swimmers stuck in the Gulf.
Everyone involved in the event was reported to be safe, witnesses said.
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After lost dog found, owner says pet rescue won't give it back
MISSION, Kan. (WDAF) -- The owner of a lost dog that ended up at a Kansas pet rescue says she's having a hard time getting her pet back.
Jessica Palacio said her dog, named Capone, got loose a couple of weeks ago and is now at Unleashed Pet Rescue in Mission, Kansas. She said she has proven the dog is hers, but the pet rescue is keeping him.
"It hurts because I don’t know if he’s OK," said Palacio.
She has been worried about her 3-year-old dog since he ran away just before Easter. Palacio said Capone needs daily medicine for a serious skin condition.
She and her family spent hours looking for him and posted lost dog alerts in her neighborhood group.
Palacio was relieved when she got an email from Unleashed Pet Rescue.
"April 4, Easter Sunday, I get an email from Unleashed Pet Rescue telling me that they have my dog," Palacio said. "Feel free to come pick him up. There’s going to be some fees attached."
After talking to someone at Unleashed on the phone, Palacio said she went to get Capone on April 8, with the $150 they said she'd need to get her dog back.
'They said he is not available ... I mean, I got like 15 different stories as to why I couldn’t take my dog," Palacio said. "When I had to go home and tell my daughter we couldn’t get the dog back, she was upset because that’s her baby. He’s everybody’s baby, you know?”
WDAF left messages Monday and again Tuesday for Unleashed's owner, Danielle Reno, to comment, but they went unanswered. When asked about the dog, employees at Unleashed said Reno was the person to talk to, but added that she wasn't there.
Palacio said she is not able to go back to the pet rescue because an employee called the police after she demanded they release her dog. She said officers who responded told her they could not do anything to help her because it is a civil matter and that if she went back to Unleashed, she would be arrested for trespassing.
"Just give me back my dog," Palacio said. "I don’t understand why this is a hard issue for you guys. I guess they thought I would give up, but now I’m going to fight. I want my dog home."
Late Wednesday, Reno responded to WDAF, saying the dog had been neglected but that she has tried to get the dog back to its owner.
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Activate this 'hidden' Facebook feature to protect your account from hackers
(KTLA) — It happens all the time: hackers take control of Facebook accounts and their rightful owners can’t log in to get them back.
To keep this from happening to you, take a minute to set up a little known Facebook feature called Trusted Contacts to protect you.
It works by pre-selecting 3-5 friends. Then, if you ever get locked out of your account because a hacker takes over and changes your password, Facebook will send those friends a special code.
You can then contact these friends in real life to get the code and enter it into a recovery link.
Facebook knows you are the rightful owner of the account and hands you back control.
Here’s how to set it up.
Facebook mobile app:
- Open the Facebook app on your phone
- Tap the three lines in the lower right-hand corner (iOS) or upper right-hand corner (Android)
- Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy
- Tap Settings
- Scroll down and tap Security & Login
- Scroll and look for the option to “Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact if you get locked out”
- Then follow the prompts to set up your Trusted Contacts
Desktop:
- Make sure you’re logged into your Facebook account and go here
- Scroll down to the section labeled “Setting Up Extra Security”
- Click the option to “Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact if you get locked out”
That’s all there is to it. I also highly recommend setting up two-factor authentication for your Facebook account. This will verify all logins to your account with special code texted to your phone.
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Watch: Crews rescue sea lion with head stuck in metal loop
SAN DIEGO (KSWB) – A sea lion found itself in a precarious situation off the San Diego coast Friday, but a rescue team from SeaWorld was able to free the critter's head from a metal loop on a buoy.
The sea lion was first spotted by boaters Friday morning with its head wedged in a welded metal loop on the buoy. The SeaWorld Rescue Team and Harbor Police Department headed out to see if they could help the animal, which appeared panicked and disoriented at times, at one point sliding off the buoy so it was hanging on to the structure by only its neck.
Two of the SeaWorld rescuers and an officer scrambled on to the buoy to help the sea lion, spreading enough soap and ointment across the critter's head and torso that it eventually slid out and into the water. In all, it took rescuers only about two minutes to get the sea lion safely into the ocean, SeaWorld said in a statement.
Rescuers also took the opportunity to tag the animal with a National Marine Fisheries identifier to help track the sea lion in case of any future incidents.
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No, vaccine side effects don't tell you how well your immune system will protect you from COVID-19
(The Conversation) - If someone gets a headache or feels a bit under the weather after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s become common to hear them say something like “Oh, it just means my immune system is really working hard.” On the flip side, when people don’t notice any side effects, they sometimes worry the shot isn’t doing its job or their immune system isn’t reacting at all.
Is there any link between what you can notice after a vaccine and what’s happening on the cellular level inside your body? Robert Finberg is a physician who specializes in infectious diseases and immunology at the Medical School at the University of Massachusetts. He explains how this perception doesn’t match the reality of how vaccines work.
What does your body do when you get a vaccine?
Your immune system responds to the foreign molecules that make up any vaccine via two different systems.
The initial response is due to what’s called the innate immune response. This system is activated as soon as your cells notice you’ve been exposed to any foreign material, from a splinter to a virus. Its goal is to eliminate the invader. White blood cells called neutrophils and macrophages travel to the intruder and work to destroy it.
This first line of defense is relatively short-lived, lasting hours or days.
The second line of defense takes days to weeks to get up and running. This is the long-lasting adaptive immune response. It relies on your immune system’s T and B cells that learn to recognize particular invaders, such as a protein from the coronavirus. If the invader is encountered again, months or even years in the future, it’s these immune cells that will recognize the old enemy and start generating the antibodies that will take it down.
In the case of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, it takes approximately two weeks to develop the adaptive response that brings long-lasting protection against the virus.
When you get the vaccine shot, what you’re noticing in the first day or two is part of the innate immune response: your body’s inflammatory reaction, aimed at quickly clearing the foreign molecules that breached your body’s perimeter.
It varies from person to person, but how dramatic the initial response is does not necessarily relate to the long-term response. In the case of the two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, well over 90% of people immunizeddeveloped the protective adaptive immune response while fewer than 50% developed any side effects, and most were mild.
You may never know how strongly your body’s adaptive immune response is gearing up.
The bottom line is you can’t gauge how well the vaccine is working within your body based on what you can detect from the outside. Different people do mount stronger or weaker immune responses to a vaccine, but post-shot side effects won’t tell you which you are. It’s the second, adaptive immune response that helps your body gain vaccine immunity, not the inflammatory response that triggers those early aches and pains.
What are side effects, anyway?
Side effects are normal responses to the injection of a foreign substance. They include things like fever, muscle pain and discomfort at the injection site, and are mediated by the innate immune response.
Neutrophils or macrophages in your body notice the vaccine molecules and produce cytokines – molecular signals that cause fever, chills, fatigue and muscle pain. Doctors expect this cytokine reaction to happen any time a foreign substance is injected into the body.
In studies where neither recipients nor researchers knew which individuals were getting the mRNA vaccine or a placebo, approximately half of people aged 16 to 55 who received a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine developed a headache after the second dose. This reaction may relate to the vaccine – but a quarter of people who received just a placebo also developed a headache. So in the case of very common symptoms, it can be quite difficult to attribute them to the vaccine with any certainty.
Researchers anticipate some reports of side effects. Adverse events, on the other hand, are things that physicians do not expect to happen as a result of the vaccine. They would include organ failure or serious damage to any part of the body.
The blood clots that triggered the U.S. to pause distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are a very rare event, apparently happening with one-in-a-million frequency. Whether they are definitely caused by the vaccine is still under investigation – but if scientists conclude they are, blood clots would be an extremely rare side effect.
What component in the shot causes side effects?
The only “active ingredient” in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is the mRNA instructions that tell the recipient’s cells to build a viral protein. But the shots have other components that help the mRNA travel inside your body.
To get the vaccine’s mRNA into the vaccinated person’s cells where it can do its job, it must evade enzymes in the body that would naturally destroy it. Researchers protected the mRNA in the vaccine by wrapping it in a bubble of lipids that help it avoid destruction. Other ingredients in the shots – like polyethylene glycol, which is part of this lipid envelope – could cause allergic responses.
If I feel sick after my shot, does that signal strong immunity?
Scientists haven’t identified any relationship between the initial inflammatory reaction and the long-term response that leads to protection. There’s no scientific proof that someone with more obvious side effects from the vaccine is then better protected from COVID-19. And there’s no reason that having an exaggerated innate response would make your adaptive response any better.
Both the authorizedmRNA vaccines provided protective immunity to over 90% of recipients, but fewer than 50% reported any reaction to the vaccine and far fewer had severe reactions.
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Truck driver arrested after police find missing teen in sleeping compartment
NEWPORT, R.I. (WPRI) ─ A Virginia truck driver was arrested in Rhode Island earlier this month after police discovered a 15-year-old girl in the sleeping compartment of his tractor-trailer, according to U.S. Attorney Richard Myrus.
Naval Station Newport Police conducted a routine background check on David Romero Reyes, 50, prior to allowing him on the base, the U.S. attorney's office said, and discovered he was wanted in Texas for felony assault on a child.
Officers detained Reyes, and upon searching his truck found the girl, who was reported missing from Virginia last July.
Reyes, according to the U.S. attorney's office, is alleged to have had sexual contact with the girl in several states, including Rhode Island.
The girl had entered the country as an unaccompanied minor in February 2020. According to HHS documents found inside Reyes' truck, he had identified himself as a distant relative of the girl when he picked her up from an immigration detention center in Houston.
Police later confirmed he is her distant cousin, as well as a longtime friend of her father, who lives in El Salvador.
After leaving the detention facility, the U.S. attorney's office said the girl lived in the Houston area with her mother and other relatives for several weeks before leaving for Virginia with Reyes. There, she began living with one of Reyes' relatives until a family member learned of their sexual relationship and contacted police.
The girl was reported missing a short time later, after Reyes allegedly picked her up and took her out of state. During the week, they traveled in trucks driven by Reyes, according to prosecutors, and on weekends, they stayed in hotels or at an apartment he rented.
Investigators found Reyes and the girl traveled through Rhode Island at least six times between February and when he was arrested on April 2.
Reyes is charged with transportation of a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity. He was ordered held, and the U.S. attorney's office said he faces 10 years to life in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.
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Should states regulate marijuana by its potency? Some say yes
NEW YORK (AP) — As marijuana legalization spreads across U.S. states, so does a debate over whether to set pot policy by potency.
Under a law signed last month, New York will tax recreational marijuana based on its amount of THC, the main intoxicating chemical in cannabis. Illinois imposed a potency-related tax when recreational pot sales began last year. Vermont is limiting THC content when its legal market opens as soon as next year, and limits or taxes have been broached in some other states and the U.S. Senate’s drug-control caucus.
Supporters say such measures will protect public health by roping off, or at least discouraging, what they view as dangerously concentrated cannabis.
“This is not your Woodstock weed,” says Kevin Sabet, the president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-legalization group that has been pressing for potency caps. “We need to put some limitations on the products being sold.”
Opponents argue that THC limits could drive people to buy illegally, and amount to beginning to ban pot again over a concern that critics see as overblown.
“It’s prohibitionism 2.0,” said Cristina Buccola, a cannabis business lawyer in New York. “Once they start putting caps on that, what don’t they put caps on?”
THC levels have been increasing in recent decades — from 4% in 1995 to 12% in 2014 in marijuana seized by federal agents, for example. Cannabis concentrates sold in Colorado’s legal market average about 69% THC, and some top 90%, according to state reports.
A sweeping 2017 examination of cannabis and health by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine listed increasing potency among factors that “create the potential for an increased risk of adverse health effects."
Some studies have linked high-THC pot, especially when used daily, with the likelihood of psychosis and certain other mental health problems. But there is debate over whether one causes the other.
Dr. Rachel Knox, an Oregon physician who counsels patients on using cannabis for various conditions, says she doesn’t see an increased risk of psychosis for people using such products under medical oversight. She opposes capping potency but suggests that products containing over 70% THC should be reserved for medical users while research continues.
“I think we should treat it with both freedom and with kid gloves,” says Knox, a former chair of the Oregon Cannabis Commission and a board member of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, a trade group.
But Colorado pediatrician and state Rep. Dr. Yadira Caraveo says she has seen the dangers of high-THC cannabis.
One of her adolescent patients who used high-potency pot daily was repeatedly hospitalized with severe vomiting linked to heavy marijuana use, and another needed psychiatric hospitalization after the drug exacerbated his mental health problems, said Caraveo. She’s thinking about proposing a potency cap.
“I’m not interested in going back to criminalization,” the Democrat says, but “the reason that I ran, and what I continue to do with the Legislature every day, is to protect public health.”
Various states have regulated how many milligrams of THC can be in a single serving, package or retail sale, at least for some products. Vermont took a different approach, limiting the percentage of the chemical in any amount of recreational pot — 30% for flower-form marijuana and 60% for concentrates.
Virginia’s new legalization law gives its future Cannabis Control Authority the power to set THC limits, and a proposal to cap THC in medical marijuana has gotten some attention in Florida’s Legislature. Nationally, the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan Caucus on International Narcotics Control suggested last month that federal health agencies study whether pot potency should be limited.
Legalization supporters say caps will backfire.
“Consumer demand for these products is not going to go away, and re-criminalizing them will only push this consumer base to seek out similar products in the unregulated illicit market,” Paul Armentano, the deputy director of NORML, wrote in a recent op-ed in the Denver newspaper Westword.
Rather than forbidding high-potency pot, some states are just making it more expensive.
Marijuana is taxed on sales price or weight in most states where it’s legal. But recreational pot taxes depend partly on THC content in Illinois and New York.
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office recommended a potency tax in 2019, saying the approach “could reduce harmful use more effectively.” But the same year, Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board said it wasn’t feasible, citing uncertainty about how switching from the state’s sales tax would affect consumption, public health and revenues.
Potency taxes have an upside for states: more stable revenue than sales taxes, says Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive think tank. That’s because sales tax totals can fall with prices in a maturing market.
There’s a downside for small cannabis companies, says Amber Littlejohn, the Minority Cannabis Business Association’s executive director. She worries they’ll lose out if THC taxes drive customers to underground dealers or to big, multistate firms that may be able to trim prices.
Instead, Littlejohn says potency policy should focus on research and stringent labeling and marketing requirements, and the industry needs to be responsive.
“It is absolutely an emerging issue,” she said, “and it is something that needs to be addressed.”
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U.S. expands ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory to 80% of countries amid pandemic
(NEXSTAR) — The U.S. State Department is “strongly” urging all Americans to reconsider international travel, according to a press release issued Monday.
In light of “unprecedented risks” posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the department has announced plans to update its current travel advisories to better reflect guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In doing so, the department will expand its Level 4 (Do Not Travel) advisory to approximately 80% of the world's countries.
Despite this “significant increase” in nations listed at Level 4, the State Department’s updated advisories do not necessarily indicate “a reassessment of the current health situation” but rather the criteria for designating a Level 4 destination, according to the department.
The updated advisories, which will begin appearing this week, will reflect the CDC’S Travel Health notices and “existing epidemiological assessments” in addition to any risks the State Department deems to be a threat to the safety of U.S. travelers. COVID-prompted travel restrictions, as well as COVID testing ability, will also be evaluated.
“As always, we are closely monitoring conditions around the globe, and will regularly update our destination-specific advice to U.S. travelers as conditions evolve,” the press release states.
Travel to the remaining 20% of the world’s countries is still discouraged, the State Department indicates.
The CDC, meanwhile, currently recommends all travelers delay any domestic or international trips until fully vaccinated. The agency also lists over 160 global destinations under its own Level 4 (COVID-19 very high) designation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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'Boom!' Couple warns homeowners about exploding glass shower doors
LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. (WJZY) -- A couple is warning homeowners about a bathroom blast that sent glass shards shattering.
Kathy Loftin says she and her husband were at their Lincoln County home Saturday night when they heard a large “boom!” Her husband found shattered glass all over the bathroom.
“It blew, literally, all the way to the bedroom floor,” said Loftin.
The glass shower door had shattered seemingly out of nowhere.
“Thank God we didn’t have anybody in the bathroom when it happened,” Loftin said. “When I researched it, I said, ‘Hey, we’re not an anomaly.’ This has happened before and people don’t know it.”
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 500 people go to hospital emergency rooms each year due to their shower glass shattering. Between 2012 and 2016 (the last years statistics were available), 2,300 people went to the ER, the agency said.
In 2016, the agency sent out a safety alert and required changes to manufacturing to make the products safer.
In 2018, a yoga instructor from Raleigh, North Carolina, received 30 stitches after she was injured when a shower door in her California hotel room exploded, according to the New York Post.
The most common causes of exploding shower doors are wear and tear, the door jumping the track, and faulty installation, according to glass experts.
Loftin said it took more than three hours to clean up the mess.
After filing a claim with their insurance company, Loftin says she’s not sure if she’ll go back to a glass shower.
If she does, she’s already making plans.
“We’ve decided we’re going to put up a heavy-duty shower curtain," Loftin said. "Then when we get done taking a shower we’re gonna close it. Because then it’ll stop the full blast.
“If this ever happens again.”
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Virginia teacher charged with drug possession, cocaine found in desk
COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WRIC) -- A Virginia kindergarten teacher faces a felony drug possession charge after authorities say she had drugs stashed in her desk.
In a letter to students' families, Colonial Heights Public Schools Superintendent William D. Sroufe said Lakeview Elementary School teacher Cybil Billie was arrested and charged with felony possession of cocaine.
Sroufe said officers arrested the 46-year-old Chesterfield County resident "tactfully."
"The safety of our students is a top priority and we will continue to follow School Board policies
and procedures throughout this process," Sroufe said in the release. "Families with any concerns or who may need additional support during this time may contact Lakeview Elementary School."
The Colonial Heights Police Department said a school administrator first contacted a school resource officer to report to a possible drug offense on April 21. The officer reported finding what appeared to be cocaine in her desk, police said. Superintendent Sroufe said the students were at recess at the time of the arrest.
Billie had been a teacher with Colonial Heights Public Schools for seven years. Students that were in Billie's class will receive additional communication from Dr. Patrick Neuman, Principal of Lakeview Elementary, regarding a new teacher assignment.
Colonial Heights resident Kelli Gagnon's daughter is a student in Billie's class. Gagnon said she had a conversation with her daughter after she was notified of the incident.
"I did just let her know that sometimes adults make mistakes and just like children, there are consequences. Sometimes adult mistakes are a little bigger. We can't just go stand in time out, but she will be taken care of no matter what. She will get the help that she needs," said Gagnon. "She was a great teacher. My daughter enjoyed having her so much."
We are continuing to cooperate with the Colonial Heights Police Department during their investigation. This is a personnel matter and I have no further comment.
Colonial Heights Public Schools Superintendent William Sroufe
Billie will be held in jail without bond until her next court date on June 2.
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Man wins $2 million in lottery after 'losing everything' in flood
(NEXSTAR) - A Michigan man won $2 million off a scratch-off lottery ticket after "losing everything" in a flood the previous year, lottery officials said.
The 29-year-old Midland County man chose to remain anonymous. He purchased his winning Lucky 7's ticket at Anna's Market on 1618 Jefferson Avenue in Midland, Michigan.
“Last year, I lost everything in a flood, so to win this prize is so overwhelming to me,” the man said in a statement. “I never play $20 tickets, but when I stopped to pick up a couple things on my way to pick up my kids the Lucky 7’s ticket caught my eye. Seven is a lucky number for me, so I decided to take a chance and bought the ticket.
“I scratched it off when I got back to my car. When I saw I had a match, I thought: ‘Great, I won my money back!’ When I saw I had actually won $2 million, I couldn’t stop shaking. A few years back, I won $10,000 and I thought that was my once in a lifetime shot at winning the Lottery.”
The man chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of approximately $1.3 million.
He plans to pay his bills with the money and save what's leftover.
“Knowing my kids will be taken care of is the best feeling in the world,” the player said in the statement.
According to lottery officials, people have won over $92 million playing Lucky 7's. The $20 ticket offers prizes ranging from $20 to $2 million.
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Thursday 29 April 2021
Chinatown Chamber of Commerce president says he was attacked in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) - Police in Oakland responded to an assault of an adult male in Chinatown on Thursday.
The president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Carl Chan, confirmed to KRON4 that he was the victim attacked on 8th and Broadway.
Chan tells KRON4 that a man came up behind him and struck him in the head. This caused him to fall to the ground scraping his hands and knees.
Chan says the suspect started to walk away so he pulled out his phone to take pictures of the suspect.
When police arrived on scene, Chan provided a suspect description.
Police arrested an adult male from Oakland and was taken to the Criminal Investigation Division.
As the investigation is ongoing, the police ask you to contact them at (510) 238-3326 if you have any information.
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Steelers draft pick, Bay Area native Najee Harris throws party at Richmond homeless shelter
RICHMOND, Calif. (KRON) - Alabama running back Najee Harris is living proof that anything is possible if you pursue your dreams.
On Thursday night the Bay Area native was selected 24th overall in the NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, before celebrating the big night, Harris returned to the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program homeless shelter in Richmond where he lived for several years as a child.
Harris, his parents, and four older siblings all lived in a small room at the shelter in 2010 while struggling with homelessness. He told KRON 4's Kylen Mills he has fond memories of the place and wanted to do something to give back.
So he sponsored an NFL draft party for the kids living there.
The night included pizza, chicken, football-themed decorations, cupcakes, and goodie bags. Harris stopped by to visit and take photos with shelter workers and the families who live there.
Shelter leaders say Harris is a huge inspiration for the kids, and they're thankful he's continued to stay involved.
“He did not let his situation dictate his future,” said Shelter Manager Siu Laulea, who worked with Harris. “It makes me feel proud and makes me enjoy my job more because I know I made a difference in someone’s life.”
Harris told KRON 4's Kylen Mills that he and his family moved 8 to 10 times before he graduated from Antioch High School. Harris went on to major success at Alabama, breaking the school's rushing record.
As for all of the attention Harris is getting as a first-round draft pick, he says he’s glad because it will help him raise awareness for homelessness and the work that GRIP does.
"Doing this really makes me and my family feel better, just giving appreciate and everything. It's a subject, especially in the Bay Area, that needs to get shed light on. The more that we are together, the more we can make everything happen, especially in good ways. You know for me moving up I'm getting more attention, more cameras and stuff, that's good. Because it's shedding more light on the situation," said Harris
If you'd like to donate or volunteer go to GripCares.org.
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City of Berkeley passes ordinance that regulates police use of militarized weapons
BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) -- City leaders in Berkeley say they are now the first in the nation to require their police department to chronicle the use of militarized equipment.
KRON4's Haaziq Madyun spoke with the Berkeley Councilmember who authored the ground breaking legislation.
Photos show examples of controlled equipment including specialized firearms, projectile launchers, batons 30 inches or longer, breaching apparatus or battering rams and, long-range acoustic devices.
The acquisition and use of these items are now regulated by the new police equipment and community safety ordinance approved by the Berkeley city council.
"The aim of the ordinance is transparency to understand what equipment the department has and how they are using it," Kate Harrison said.
The principal author of the new legislation, Berkeley City Councilmember Kate Harrison, says the ordinance is primarily an annual report that will include an inventory of current police equipment, the official policy for its use and, the circumstances.
"Frankly a lot of this grows out of concerns for Black Lives Matter and the sense that sometimes this weaponry appears more in lower-income African American neighborhoods and than it does in my neighborhood," Harrison said. "We want to know where it was or was it a lot of crowd control. Did we have a lot of demonstrations when it was used? It's that kind of information we are looking for. Right now we don't know how often it's used or where because there is no reporting on it."
This type of equipment is typically used by the U.S. military and is now commonly acquired and used on America's streets by local police departments.
"What is now standard to the police is not standard to the public. These things really look frightening particularly when it's a large group of officers, like in a crowd control situation," Harrison said. "This list partially came out of former President Obama's of equipment that was being acquired by the military. It's been heavily vetted by our police review commission."
The police equipment and community safety ordinance is the final piece of last summer's sweeping police reforms passed by the Berkeley City Council.
"The public has the right to know when and where."
The Berkeley Police Department was asked if they are in favor of the new ordinance. They sent a short statement that reads:
"The Berkeley Police Department has a long history of listening to our community and we intend to continue that tradition with the council’s recent legislation."
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Mario Gonzalez death: Family seeks criminal charges against Alameda officers
ALAMEDA, Calif. (KRON) - The family of Mario Gonzalez is speaking out against comments made by the attorney representing the Alameda police officers who were involved in the 26-year-old man's in-custody death last week.
The family says the officers had no right to detain Mario. They add that the body camera footage released by the city of Alameda this week shows Gonzalez was not a threat.
Mario Gonzalez's family says his death was the result of murder and that the Alameda police officers involved in his in-custody death last week should face criminal charges.
Their civil rights attorney Michael Haddad says it's important all facts are known before he can definitively say mario was killed intentionally.
"I'm a lawyer, so I can't just toss that word murder around easily. I know it's a term of art, and so there is some investigation on still," Haddad said.
Haddad says is convinced the officers share responsibility for Mario's passing.
"Whether it's voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter, or something higher -- it's not really for me to say, but I do think there should be some criminal consequences, in addition to the civil consequences," Haddad said.
As Haddad explores a civil suit against the officers, he pushes back at the attorney representing them, who claims the officers worked hard to calmly end their encounter with Mario peacefully.
Haddad says the body camera video released shows a different story.
When the officers responded to 911 calls April 19th reporting a possibly intoxicated man loitering in a park on Oak Street and that he was possibly involved in a theft.
"There was no reason to touch him at all. And, officer McKinley spent a few minutes talking to him. During which time, he found out Mario was harmless, friendly and minding his own business. And, so the officers should have gone to the household that made the call and told them, 'we've checked into the matter. You don't have anything to be afraid of, and the man is not breaking any laws,' and just left," Haddad said.
Instead, Mario was wrestled to the ground and suffered what police call a medical emergency, as the officers applied pressure to his back.
While the officers remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigations into Mario's death.
His family is preparing funeral arrangements.
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$3.4B drought relief package clears CA senate
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KRON) -- California state lawmakers are moving forward with a multi-billion dollar package to address the state's drought issues.
This comes as most of the state is considered to be in a severe drought.
A $3.4 billion drought relief package cleared its first hurdle in the California legislature Thursday as lawmakers try to swiftly send it to the governor for approval.
The effort unanimously cleared a senate budget committee on natural resources.
"Every day or week that we wait in getting money on the ground its days and weeks that there's evaporation happening on our soils," Brian Dahle said. "Some of these water districts need resources to get things done. "
Half a billion dollars would be available immediately for emergency drought related response for communities that need it across California.
Thursday's latest drought monitor release showed 88% of the state is in a severe drought, with the entire state considered abnormally dry.
"Not trying to kick down the road or waiting for everything to shake out in Washington," Sen. Howard Stern, Calabasas, said.
The proposed package would also put funds toward improving water supply in smaller communities, help ratepayers with COVID related water debt and provide help to struggling agriculture and local water agencies.
The package would be paid with state and federal funds.
State natural resources and water officials noted California's conditions are approaching the levels the state experienced in its last drought a few years ago.
Governor Gavin Newsom has said regardless of the current conditions, he does not yet feel the need to declare a drought state of emergency.
Newsom's administration Thursday told lawmakers many lessons were learned in the last drought that lead to projects and policies which they say improved California's protection from drought.
Lawmakers say more still needs to be done.
"Every day that we wait that's missed opportunity to get seeds in the ground to stabilize that soil as well as take care of the environment," Dahle said.
The package now heads to the senate's full budget committee for approval.
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Outside Lands 2021: Will it be safe?
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - Single-day passes went on sale Thursday for Outside Lands and sold out within minutes.
The popular music festival in Golden Gate Park was canceled last year due to the pandemic but will return in October.
The festival is still months away and a lot could change between now and then but anyone who has bought a ticket and plans on attendings needs to know, that they could possibly be exposed to coronavirus.
Organizers say they will probably take additional safety steps.
According to the CDC, large outdoor gatherings are still considered high risk for exposure to COVID-19.
The Outside Lands music festival is expected to draw thousands of people over 3 days meaning that extra safety precautions may need to be taken.
Organizers have said they are still working on specific safety guidelines for the festival, noting on their website that "we will follow health and safety guidelines put for by authorities."
It's unclear at this point if attendees will be required to wear masks, be vaccinated, or be tested before being allowed in.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong with UCSF says that because a large gathering like Outside Lands is at odds with CDC recommendations, organizers will most likely need to take additional precautions.
"The Bay Area is very safe but with events like Outside Lands, without an additional layer of safety, you worry about visitors bringing risks from other areas. If things move along in the way, they have been moving by that time many people will hopefully have been vaccinated," Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said.
Outside Lands is still months away and conditions and health guidelines could change evolve over the coming months.
On the Outside Lands website in the health and safety section, it notes that anyone who bought a ticket assumes the risk of possible exposure to coronavirus.
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NFL Draft 2021: Oakland native Alijah Vera-Tucker selected No. 14 overall
(KRON) -- Bay Area, represent!
The first California pick in the 2021 NFL Draft was Oakland native Alijah Vera-Tucker.
The New York Jets traded up from No. 23 to No. 14 to get Vera-Tucker in the first round.
New York sent its first-round pick, No. 23, and two third round picks, No. 66 and No. 86, to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the 14th pick and a fourth-rounder, No. 143.
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Trojan played tackle for USC, but will switch to guard in the league.
Vera-Tucker, 21, was born and raised in Oakland and attended Bishop O'Dowd High School.
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Is it safe yet to attend sporting events during the pandemic?
(AP) – Is it safe to go to big sporting events during the pandemic?
Not yet, but there are ways to make it safer if you go.
“Yelling, chanting, hugging and generally pouring out our sports enthusiasm is still not the safest activity,” noted Jennifer Dowd, associate professor of population health at University of Oxford and chief scientific officer of Dear Pandemic, a website that offers expert opinions.
If you do decide to go to a game, outdoor stadiums are safer than indoor arenas, which won’t be as well ventilated. Venues that limit attendance and require masks are safer as well. Some teams are requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test for the coronavirus.
Once at the stadium, avoid indoor bars, restaurants and box seating, Dowd said. “Spaces that are indoors with lots of people eating and drinking without masks are still among the riskiest,” she said.
Going to a game is much safer if you’re fully vaccinated, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the agency advises wearing masks at crowded sports events regardless of whether you’ve had your shots.
Evidence on the safety of big games is mixed. The NFL says it safely hosted 1.2 million fans at 119 games during the 2020 season. Some studies that haven’t yet been vetted by outside experts have reached differing conclusions about whether the football season led to more infections. The study findings can’t be certain, since they were based on disease rates in counties, not on contact tracing investigations.
Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said enough Americans will likely be fully vaccinated by June or July to see significant declines in transmission of the virus.
“The risk won’t go to zero,” Hotez said, but it will drop enough that sporting events, restaurants and larger gatherings may be much safer.
The CDC offers additional guidance to help sports fans make decisions as the pandemic continues, such as checking with event organizers about what safety measures are being taken. An important reminder: If you have symptoms, are waiting for a virus test result or have been exposed to someone who’s infected, you should stay home, the CDC says.
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1 dead, 2 injured following shooting on SF's Market Street
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - Police responded to a fatal shooting in San Francisco on Thursday afternoon.
Around 4:49 p.m., authorities arrived in the area of Market and Mason Streets to find three victims suffering gunshot wounds.
Officials provided medical attention, however, one victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other victims were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
At this time, no arrests have been made.
Authorities remain on the scene as an investigation continues.
Traffic will be impacted at the 900 block of Market Street and the unit block of Mason Street.
More information will be released at a later time.
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NFL Draft 2021: 49ers pick new quarterback Trey Lance
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Trey Lance, a quarterback from FCS school North Dakota State who started 17 games in his career, has been chosen third overall in the NFL draft by San Francisco.
Lance was chosen after Jacksonville took Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and the Jets grabbed BYU’s Zach Wilson. Three QBs to start proceedings matched 1971 (Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, Dan Pastorini) and 1999 (Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith) as the only drafts with such a lineup. Only Plunkett won a Super Bowl among those QBs, and he didn’t do it with New England, which drafted him.
Even though Jimmy Garoppolo took the 49ers to the Super Bowl two years ago, general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan felt they needed new blood at the position.
They traded up to the No. 3 slot, paying a high price to Miami, so they could select Lance.
Yet Lance is not the highest North Dakota State quarterback chosen in a draft. Carson Wentz went second overall to Philadelphia in 2016.
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At least 40 states creating legislation that would ban vaccine requirements
NEW YORK (NewsNation Now) — At state Capitols across the country, lawmakers, generally Republican, are advancing legislation to ban COVID-19 vaccine requirements for businesses and schools.
Most of the bills will never become law, but some experts fear serious damage to public faith in medical science just the same.
“The thought of a state mandating that people take a vaccine that's still experimental, according to the manufacturers of the vaccine, would be considered a gross violation of the individual freedom of Hoosiers,” said State Rep. John Jacob (R-Ind.).
“Government should not require any Texan to have proof of vaccination,” said Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
It’s generally more about civil liberties than vaccine skepticism — but the end result, experts said, can be very much the same. That’s because the truth is often mixed in with skepticism and conspiracy theories. The public is left to figure out which is which, based on the words and actions of those they’ve placed in positions of trust.
The result are visible across the country.
While New York rolled out the "Excelsior Pass," a digital vaccine passport, lawmakers in Indiana worked on a bill that includes a vaccine passport ban. It passed by a wide margin, just as many Hoosier state health departments saw an uptick in no-shows for COVID-19 shots.
“And so, we have some openings,” Indiana University Health’s Kristen Kelley told NewsNation affiliate WXIN in Indianapolis. “More than I’m comfortable with.”
The group ‘Colorado Vaccine Hunters’ tells NewsNation’s Denver affiliate KDVR that undermined confidence in vaccines - whatever the source - is leading some to skip second doses of their shots.
“I don’t know where they’re getting the info,” said Katrina Bellis.
In Miami, a well-known private school said it won't employ anyone who’s received the coronavirus vaccine over concern the shots might not be safe. In a letter to parents, Centner Academy said it was a difficult decision, outlining a policy based on a debunked conspiracy theory.
It’s left many scientists shaking their heads but bowing to lawmakers who say they’re engaged in a fight for privacy and personal freedom.
Legislation against mandated vaccination is currently being advanced in more than 40 states.
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Woman charged in crash that killed NYPD officer livestreamed herself drinking hours before
QUEENS, N.Y. (WPIX) --- The Long Island woman accused of killing an NYPD officer in a hit-and-run said she had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before the crash, and had also gone on a livestreamed anti-police rant just hours prior.
Jessica Beauvais, 32, is accused of hitting New York police officer Anastasios Tsakos with her vehicle on the Long Island Expressway early Tuesday. The 43-year-old Tsakos, a 14-year veteran of the New York Police Department, was diverting traffic away from a separate fatal crash at the time of the incident.
Outside the courthouse, Beauvais told reporters she was sorry.
"She’s genuine in that she apologized for the fact that she was caught," said Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association.
In a livestreamed podcast video on her Facebook page, Beauvais was seen downing shots and vaping. She also made disparaging comments about police regarding recent police shootings.
"We’re not scared of the police...We want you to know we don’t give a f--- about you, your mom or your children or wife. You’re nothing,” she says in the video.
During her arraignment Tuesday night, prosecutors said Beauvais admitted that she had smoked a joint, took two shots of tequila and drank wine as she livestreamed.
Outside the courthouse, the suspect’s family members didn’t speak to the media but broke down in tears as they walked away.
"She admitted that she didn’t know where she was going, what she was doing, but still got in her car and used GPS as if it was automatic pilot," said Lynch.
Tsakos leaves behind a wife and two young children, ages 3 and 6.
"They said goodbye on their stoop today; little did they know that was the last time,” Lynch said.
Beauvais is facing a slew of charges, including manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting/death, unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the second and third degree, operating a motor vehicle while under influence of alcohol or drugs, as a felony, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, operating motor vehicle while under influence of alcohol, reckless driving, and operating a vehicle approaching parked, stopped, standing authorized emergency vehicle.
If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.
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'We lost count after 800': Migrating birds overrun California home
TORRANCE, Calif. (KTLA) -- A California family is warning others after hundreds of birds poured into their home last week, leaving them feeling as though they were living out a horror movie.
The avian invasion began April 21 and lasted a few days, according to Kerri, the woman who lives in the Torrance home with her husband and child. She asked that Nexstar's KTLA withhold her last name.
Kerri said the family came home from dinner to find the flock swarming around inside after swooping down their chimney, practically taking a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds.”
“It’s so hard to explain. If you don’t see it with your own eyes, you’d never believe it,” Kerri said.
Video she shared shows the pulsating flock circling above the family’s chimney before many begin swooping down inside. Another clip shot later shows them flapping up against a window inside the home.
“We lost count after 800,” Kerri said.
She said the Carson sheriff’s station put her family in contact with county animal control officials, who said to simply leave their doors open. But the birds weren’t going anywhere.
“They acted like they wanted to get out, but they wasn’t going nowhere,” said Patrick Belleville, a relative who came over to help. “They were just flying around, just everywhere, every room in the house, every bathroom.”
Belleville said he put his hood and mask on to protect himself from the onslaught.
“They were just beaming off my head,” he said.
Surrounded by hundreds of birds and feeling helpless, Kerri, her husband and their baby stayed in a hotel overnight while Belleville tried to evict the birds.
The birds did calm down and sleep in the house after a few hours — but they made themselves a bit too comfortable, Kerri said.
“The second night, I actually woke up to a bird flapping in my room. So basically just pull the covers over my head and started screaming,” she told KTLA.
In addition, the home became filled with bird droppings. “You couldn’t walk in any spot in the living room, the kitchen and the hallway without stepping on bird droppings,” Kerri said.
Up the coast in Montecito, just south of Santa Barbara, the local fire department said it responded to a home where 1,000 birds became trapped in a chimney Sunday night.
They’d hoped the flock would flee on its own overnight, but they returned Monday morning to find them still up against the fireplace grate. Animal officials worked throughout the day and eventually created a chute system to successfully funnel the birds through the home’s back door, firefighters said.
In that incident, KSBY in San Luis Obispo identified the birds as swifts.
In both Montecito and Torrance, the birds’ behavior appeared to align with that of the Vaux’s swift, which is known to roost in chimneys in groups.
The birds are believed to be passing through Southern California as they migrate north, looking for a new home.
John Honjiyo, whose bird control company Birdxpert serves Orange and Los Angeles counties, said he’s been busy lately with bird nuisance calls.
He advised residents in the area to close their chimney flue and make sure their spark resister at the top hasn’t rusted and opened.
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