WASHINGTON (AP) — Count 30-year-old Ethan Miller among that subset of Americans who are actually eager to file their taxes once&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-lifestyle-health-personal-taxes-0a62b6c209f7508c31b9b3c74e56c927">income tax filing season</a>&nbsp;opens on Monday.

The financial planner who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, is looking forward to claiming the new deductions that will come from buying a home. He also wants to get a jump on a tax season that promises to bring lots of extra headaches and delays for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2022-tax-filing-season-begins-jan-24-irs-outlines-refund-timing-and-what-to-expect-in-advance-of-april-18-tax-deadline" target="_blank">filers this year</a>.

“I’m trying to get a head start on my taxes as much as possible,” Miller said, adding that he is not too nervous about forecasts of extra delays because he will file online and will not be waiting for too big a refund.

Plenty of other filers, though, may be in for more heartburn.

An IRS worker shortage, an enormous workload from administering pandemic-related programs and stalled legislation that would have given the agency billions of dollars for more expeditiously processing returns will combine to cause taxpayers pain this filing season.

“The IRS right now has unacceptable backlogs and the customer service that people are receiving is not what the American public deserves,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged Friday. “The agency has not been equipped with the resources to adequately serve taxpayers in normal times, let alone during a pandemic.”

She stressed that the problems predate the Biden administration and she urged understanding for beleaguered workers already saddled with huge backlogs. “It’s going to take some work, it’s going to take some time and I think people need to understand that they need funding,” Psaki said.

Agency officials are already warning filers that “in many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs,” as IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig put it earlier in the month.

Delays in processing are to be expected -- especially because the IRS says it still is working through 2020 tax returns.

During the 2020 budget year, the IRS processed more than 240 million tax returns and issued roughly $736 billion in refunds, including $268 billion in stimulus payments, according to the latest IRS&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-irs-data-book" target="_blank">data</a>. In that same time frame, 59.5 million people called or visited an IRS office.

Donald Williamson, an accounting and taxation professor at American University in Washington, said he expects “weeks and weeks” of IRS delays in 2022.

“You can blame Congress or the IRS. I imagine they’re trying to do the right thing but it just adds to further complexity,” he said. “My advice in 2022 is file early, get started tomorrow and try to put your taxes together with a qualified professional.”

Williamson said he advises his clients to file electronically, and those who expect hefty refunds in the tens of thousands should expect greater delays. Most backlogged returns were filed on paper and are amended returns.

Deadlines to file have been extended in the past two years due to the pandemic. It is unclear whether this year the agency will offer similar leeway to taxpayers.

There will be plenty of new issues to navigate this year.

For example, individuals who are eligible to claim the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/child-tax-credits-program-ends-5ded3907c72ee0c3ad8a067a29d6b2c0">child tax credit</a>&nbsp;and have gotten advance payments throughout the year may get a smaller refund than they normally would see.

People who did not get stimulus checks that they were qualified for as part of the pandemic relief package might yet be able to claim a “&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments" target="_blank">recovery rebate credit</a>&nbsp;” on their taxes.

On Thursday, the IRS released a list of “&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/top-5-things-to-remember-when-filing-income-tax-returns-in-2022" target="_blank">Top 5 Things to Remember</a>,” with suggestions for taxpayers on what documents to pull together and what to do if their 2020 returns still have not been processed.

The IRS anticipates that most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of when they file electronically, barring any issues with processing their return.

But plenty of pitfalls remain, in part due to staffing troubles at the IRS.

Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union that represents IRS workers, said the agency “has a hard time recruiting because they’re up against Burger King or McDonald’s,” which offer similar pay without requiring workers to “deal with confusing rules and regulations.”

As of Thursday, the agency’s careers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jobs.irs.gov/careers" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;listed at least 180 open jobs, including clerks and tax examiners paid as little as $11 an hour. Of those, 42 positions were open to the public; most were available only to internal applicants.

A hoped-for $80 billion infusion for the agency was included in versions of President Joe Biden’s proposed package of social spending programs but that stalled on Capitol Hill.

Reardon said the IRS “is in a lot of trouble in terms of how it is effectively able to carry out its mission and that has to be rectified.”

“I think clearly the taxpayer gets the brunt of this,” he said, adding that IRS workers get “the brunt of that blame under horrible circumstances.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1641845771409.jpg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Count 30-year-old Ethan Miller among that subset of Americans who are actually eager to file their taxes once&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-lifestyle-health-personal-taxes-0a62b6c209f7508c31b9b3c74e56c927">income tax filing season</a>&nbsp;opens on Monday.The financial planner who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, is looking forward to claiming the new deductions that will come from buying a home. He also wants to get a jump on a tax season that promises to bring lots of extra headaches and delays for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2022-tax-filing-season-begins-jan-24-irs-outlines-refund-timing-and-what-to-expect-in-advance-of-april-18-tax-deadline" target="_blank">filers this year</a>.“I’m trying to get a head start on my taxes as much as possible,” Miller said, adding that he is not too nervous about forecasts of extra delays because he will file online and will not be waiting for too big a refund.Plenty of other filers, though, may be in for more heartburn.An IRS worker shortage, an enormous workload from administering pandemic-related programs and stalled legislation that would have given the agency billions of dollars for more expeditiously processing returns will combine to cause taxpayers pain this filing season.“The IRS right now has unacceptable backlogs and the customer service that people are receiving is not what the American public deserves,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged Friday. “The agency has not been equipped with the resources to adequately serve taxpayers in normal times, let alone during a pandemic.”She stressed that the problems predate the Biden administration and she urged understanding for beleaguered workers already saddled with huge backlogs. “It’s going to take some work, it’s going to take some time and I think people need to understand that they need funding,” Psaki said.Agency officials are already warning filers that “in many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs,” as IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig put it earlier in the month.Delays in processing are to be expected -- especially because the IRS says it still is working through 2020 tax returns.During the 2020 budget year, the IRS processed more than 240 million tax returns and issued roughly $736 billion in refunds, including $268 billion in stimulus payments, according to the latest IRS&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-irs-data-book" target="_blank">data</a>. In that same time frame, 59.5 million people called or visited an IRS office.Donald Williamson, an accounting and taxation professor at American University in Washington, said he expects “weeks and weeks” of IRS delays in 2022.“You can blame Congress or the IRS. I imagine they’re trying to do the right thing but it just adds to further complexity,” he said. “My advice in 2022 is file early, get started tomorrow and try to put your taxes together with a qualified professional.”Williamson said he advises his clients to file electronically, and those who expect hefty refunds in the tens of thousands should expect greater delays. Most backlogged returns were filed on paper and are amended returns.Deadlines to file have been extended in the past two years due to the pandemic. It is unclear whether this year the agency will offer similar leeway to taxpayers.There will be plenty of new issues to navigate this year.For example, individuals who are eligible to claim the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/child-tax-credits-program-ends-5ded3907c72ee0c3ad8a067a29d6b2c0">child tax credit</a>&nbsp;and have gotten advance payments throughout the year may get a smaller refund than they normally would see.People who did not get stimulus checks that they were qualified for as part of the pandemic relief package might yet be able to claim a “&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments" target="_blank">recovery rebate credit</a>&nbsp;” on their taxes.On Thursday, the IRS released a list of “&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/top-5-things-to-remember-when-filing-income-tax-returns-in-2022" target="_blank">Top 5 Things to Remember</a>,” with suggestions for taxpayers on what documents to pull together and what to do if their 2020 returns still have not been processed.The IRS anticipates that most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of when they file electronically, barring any issues with processing their return.But plenty of pitfalls remain, in part due to staffing troubles at the IRS.Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union that represents IRS workers, said the agency “has a hard time recruiting because they’re up against Burger King or McDonald’s,” which offer similar pay without requiring workers to “deal with confusing rules and regulations.”As of Thursday, the agency’s careers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jobs.irs.gov/careers" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;listed at least 180 open jobs, including clerks and tax examiners paid as little as $11 an hour. Of those, 42 positions were open to the public; most were available only to internal applicants.A hoped-for $80 billion infusion for the agency was included in versions of President Joe Biden’s proposed package of social spending programs but that stalled on Capitol Hill.Reardon said the IRS “is in a lot of trouble in terms of how it is effectively able to carry out its mission and that has to be rectified.”“I think clearly the taxpayer gets the brunt of this,” he said, adding that IRS workers get “the brunt of that blame under horrible circumstances.”

Taxpayers face overloaded IRS as filing season opens 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Sunday ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion.

The department told the dependents of staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv that they must leave the country. It also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense.

The move came amid rising tensions about Russia's military buildup on the Ukraine border that were not eased during talks Friday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva.

State Department officials stressed the Kyiv embassy will remain open and that the announcement does not constitute an evacuation. The move had been under consideration for some time and does not reflect an easing of U.S. support for Ukraine, the officials said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642982265359.png" alt="On Saturday, President Biden met with his national security team to discuss continued Russian aggressive actions toward Ukraine. White House photo&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>On Saturday, President Biden met with his national security team to discuss continued Russian aggressive actions toward Ukraine. White House photo&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic WriterWASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Sunday ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion.The department told the dependents of staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv that they must leave the country. It also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense.The move came amid rising tensions about Russia's military buildup on the Ukraine border that were not eased during talks Friday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva.State Department officials stressed the Kyiv embassy will remain open and that the announcement does not constitute an evacuation. The move had been under consideration for some time and does not reflect an easing of U.S. support for Ukraine, the officials said.

Families of US Embassy personnel in Ukraine ordered to evacuate

LINCOLN&nbsp; — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol, with assistance from the Lincoln Police Department, have arrested four people following a foot pursuit in Lincoln Saturday evening.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., a trooper observed the occupants of a Volkswagen Passat throw a lit cigarette out the window while traveling southbound on Interstate 180 into downtown Lincoln. A trooper then attempted a traffic stop near 9th&nbsp;and O streets, but the vehicle fled.

Out of concern for public safety, the trooper did not pursue. A Lincoln Police Officer noticed the fleeing vehicle and attempted another traffic stop, but the vehicle fled into a residential neighborhood. Approximately two minutes later, the vehicle crashed near 6th&nbsp;and Sumner and all four occupants fled on foot.

A short time later, all four occupants were located and taken into custody without further incident. Troopers discovered promethazine, marijuana, and a loaded firearm, which had been thrown from the vehicle as it fled.

All four occupants, Nyagoa Mading, 24, of Lincoln, Gatdet Yiel, 33, of Lincoln, Buay Chuol, 23, of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Diew Deng, 24, of West Des Moines, Iowa were arrested for obstructing a peace officer, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. All four were lodged in Lancaster County Jail.

LINCOLN&nbsp; — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol, with assistance from the Lincoln Police Department, have arrested four people following a foot pursuit in Lincoln Saturday evening.At approximately 11:30 p.m., a trooper observed the occupants of a Volkswagen Passat throw a lit cigarette out the window while traveling southbound on Interstate 180 into downtown Lincoln. A trooper then attempted a traffic stop near 9th&nbsp;and O streets, but the vehicle fled.Out of concern for public safety, the trooper did not pursue. A Lincoln Police Officer noticed the fleeing vehicle and attempted another traffic stop, but the vehicle fled into a residential neighborhood. Approximately two minutes later, the vehicle crashed near 6th&nbsp;and Sumner and all four occupants fled on foot.A short time later, all four occupants were located and taken into custody without further incident. Troopers discovered promethazine, marijuana, and a loaded firearm, which had been thrown from the vehicle as it fled.All four occupants, Nyagoa Mading, 24, of Lincoln, Gatdet Yiel, 33, of Lincoln, Buay Chuol, 23, of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Diew Deng, 24, of West Des Moines, Iowa were arrested for obstructing a peace officer, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. All four were lodged in Lancaster County Jail.

4 arrested following incident in Lincoln

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old woman died at a hospital after she was shot multiple times at a home in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue. 

KETV reports that police said the shooting was reported around 10:40 p.m. Saturday at a home near 22nd and Jefferson streets. 

Paramedics rushed the woman to the hospital where she later died. Her name was not immediately released.

 Bellevue Police said a 43-year-old man was arrested after the shooting on several charges including second-degree murder.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old woman died at a hospital after she was shot multiple times at a home in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue. KETV reports that police said the shooting was reported around 10:40 p.m. Saturday at a home near 22nd and Jefferson streets. Paramedics rushed the woman to the hospital where she later died. Her name was not immediately released. Bellevue Police said a 43-year-old man was arrested after the shooting on several charges including second-degree murder.

Police arrest man after fatal shooting in Bellevue

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on&nbsp; released a highly anticipated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/money-and-payments-discussion-paper.htm" target="_blank">report on central bank digital currencies</a>&nbsp;that suggested it is leaning toward having banks and other financial firms, rather than the Fed itself, manage digital accounts for customers.

A central bank digital currency would differ in some key ways from the online and digital payments that millions of Americans already conduct. Those transactions are funneled through banks, which wouldn’t be necessary with a digital dollar.

The Fed’s paper stressed that no final decisions about a digital currency have been reached. But it suggested that a digital currency that “would best serve the needs” of the nation would follow an “intermediated model” under which banks or payment firms would create accounts or digital wallets.

The Fed characterized the potential introduction of a digital currency as a step that could have far-reaching consequences for banks and other financial firms as well as for the central bank itself.

“The introduction of a (central bank digital currency) would represent a highly significant innovation in American money,” the study said. The Fed said it “could fundamentally change the structure of the U.S. financial system, altering the roles and responsibilities of the private sector and the central bank.”

The report comes at a time when digital money is proliferating in a variety of forms. Millions of people own cryptocurrencies, though they are often used more as investments than as forms of payment. But so-called stablecoins, which are often pegged to the dollar, have also soared in use in the past year, mostly for cryptocurrency transactions.

And most central banks around the world are studying government-backed digital currencies. China’s central bank has already tested a digital version of the yuan. The European Central Bank began exploring a digital euro in October and said its “investigation period” would last two years. Some Caribbean nations have already issued digital currencies.

China’s action and the explosion of stablecoins, which can be used in place of dollars in international transactions, have raised pressure on the Fed to consider a digital currency. Last March, Chair Jerome Powell said that while the Fed needed to keep pace with financial innovations, it would proceed cautiously.

“As the world’s principal reserve currency...we have an obligation to be on the cutting edge of understanding the technological challenges,” Powell said then. “But...we don’t need to rush this project. We don’t need to be first to market.”

The Fed is likely years away from actually issuing a digital currency, if it decides to do so. The paper released Thursday kicks off a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/forms/cbdc" target="_blank">120-day comment period</a>, during which the Fed will seek input from the public. The Fed also said it would proceed only with support from Congress, “ideally in the form of a specific authorizing law.”

And officials at the central bank aren’t all in agreement about whether a central bank digital currency is needed. Lael Brainard, who serves on the Fed’s Board of Governors and has been nominated by President Joe Biden to be vice chair, has, for example, expressed support for the concept, while Christopher Waller, another board member, has been skeptical.

A digital dollar could bring a host of benefits as well as risks. It would be a safer form of digital payment, because the Fed, unlike a bank or the companies issuing stablecoins, can’t go bankrupt. It could be easier and less expensive to access for people without bank accounts.

At the same time, a digital currency could pose privacy risks because it would be issued by the government. The Fed’s paper suggests, though, that banks and other third-party firms would shield consumer data from the Fed while also implementing existing rules against money-laundering and other illicit activity.

Such a government-issued digital dollar could also have major consequences for commercial banks because many Americans might prefer to hold such currency in a “wallet” issued by a payment provider like PayPal or Venmo, potentially cutting into bank deposits.

The Fed could even seek to influence the economy through a digital currency, as it now does by controlling interest rates. It could pay interest on a digital dollar, for example, or even have it decline in value, as a form of a negative interest rate. An interest payment could make a digital dollar more attractive than money in a bank.

“This substitution effect could reduce the aggregate amount of deposits in the banking system,” the Fed report said.

That hasn’t gone unnoticed by banks. The Bank Policy Institute, a lobbying group, asserted in a&nbsp;<a href="https://bpi.com/legal-authority-to-issue-a-u-s-central-bank-digital-currency/" target="_blank">blog post last June</a>&nbsp;that the Fed doesn’t have legal authority to pay interest on a digital dollar.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on&nbsp; released a highly anticipated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/money-and-payments-discussion-paper.htm" target="_blank">report on central bank digital currencies</a>&nbsp;that suggested it is leaning toward having banks and other financial firms, rather than the Fed itself, manage digital accounts for customers.A central bank digital currency would differ in some key ways from the online and digital payments that millions of Americans already conduct. Those transactions are funneled through banks, which wouldn’t be necessary with a digital dollar.The Fed’s paper stressed that no final decisions about a digital currency have been reached. But it suggested that a digital currency that “would best serve the needs” of the nation would follow an “intermediated model” under which banks or payment firms would create accounts or digital wallets.The Fed characterized the potential introduction of a digital currency as a step that could have far-reaching consequences for banks and other financial firms as well as for the central bank itself.“The introduction of a (central bank digital currency) would represent a highly significant innovation in American money,” the study said. The Fed said it “could fundamentally change the structure of the U.S. financial system, altering the roles and responsibilities of the private sector and the central bank.”The report comes at a time when digital money is proliferating in a variety of forms. Millions of people own cryptocurrencies, though they are often used more as investments than as forms of payment. But so-called stablecoins, which are often pegged to the dollar, have also soared in use in the past year, mostly for cryptocurrency transactions.And most central banks around the world are studying government-backed digital currencies. China’s central bank has already tested a digital version of the yuan. The European Central Bank began exploring a digital euro in October and said its “investigation period” would last two years. Some Caribbean nations have already issued digital currencies.China’s action and the explosion of stablecoins, which can be used in place of dollars in international transactions, have raised pressure on the Fed to consider a digital currency. Last March, Chair Jerome Powell said that while the Fed needed to keep pace with financial innovations, it would proceed cautiously.“As the world’s principal reserve currency...we have an obligation to be on the cutting edge of understanding the technological challenges,” Powell said then. “But...we don’t need to rush this project. We don’t need to be first to market.”The Fed is likely years away from actually issuing a digital currency, if it decides to do so. The paper released Thursday kicks off a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/forms/cbdc" target="_blank">120-day comment period</a>, during which the Fed will seek input from the public. The Fed also said it would proceed only with support from Congress, “ideally in the form of a specific authorizing law.”And officials at the central bank aren’t all in agreement about whether a central bank digital currency is needed. Lael Brainard, who serves on the Fed’s Board of Governors and has been nominated by President Joe Biden to be vice chair, has, for example, expressed support for the concept, while Christopher Waller, another board member, has been skeptical.A digital dollar could bring a host of benefits as well as risks. It would be a safer form of digital payment, because the Fed, unlike a bank or the companies issuing stablecoins, can’t go bankrupt. It could be easier and less expensive to access for people without bank accounts.At the same time, a digital currency could pose privacy risks because it would be issued by the government. The Fed’s paper suggests, though, that banks and other third-party firms would shield consumer data from the Fed while also implementing existing rules against money-laundering and other illicit activity.Such a government-issued digital dollar could also have major consequences for commercial banks because many Americans might prefer to hold such currency in a “wallet” issued by a payment provider like PayPal or Venmo, potentially cutting into bank deposits.The Fed could even seek to influence the economy through a digital currency, as it now does by controlling interest rates. It could pay interest on a digital dollar, for example, or even have it decline in value, as a form of a negative interest rate. An interest payment could make a digital dollar more attractive than money in a bank.“This substitution effect could reduce the aggregate amount of deposits in the banking system,” the Fed report said.That hasn’t gone unnoticed by banks. The Bank Policy Institute, a lobbying group, asserted in a&nbsp;<a href="https://bpi.com/legal-authority-to-issue-a-u-s-central-bank-digital-currency/" target="_blank">blog post last June</a>&nbsp;that the Fed doesn’t have legal authority to pay interest on a digital dollar.

The Federal Reserve wants your input on US digital currency

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis vowed Friday to provide justice to victims of clergy sexual abuse and German authorities called for further investigation after an independent audit faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI for having botched four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

The fallout from the report continued to reverberate Friday as church officials digested the findings that a pope credited with having turned the Vatican around on the abuse issue had in fact mishandled cases earlier in his career.

One day after the report's release, Francis met with the members of the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases in a previously scheduled audience. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for nearly a quarter-century before he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

In his speech, Francis didn’t refer to the findings of the report into how the Munich archdiocese handled abuse cases from 1945 and 2019. Ratzinger was archbishop there from 1977-1982.

But Francis said the church was continuing to discern the way forward in the abuse scandal, which has discredited the Catholic hierarchy at the Vatican and around the world.

“The church, with God’s help, is carrying out the commitment with firm determination to do justice to the victims of abuse by its members, applying with particular attention and rigor to the canonical legislation envisaged,” Francis told the group.

He recalled he had recently updated the Vatican norms to handle abuse cases to make them more effective.

“This alone cannot be enough to stem the phenomenon, but it is a necessary step to restore justice, to repair scandal and reform the offender,” he said.

The German report prepared by an independent law firm found that Ratzinger mishandled four cases of abusive clergy during his tenure as archbishop. Until Thursday, only one known case implicating his Munich tenure had been made public; the report found that the church’s claim that Ratzinger was unaware of the priest's background lacked credibility.

Prosecutors in Munich said Friday they are examining 42 cases of possible wrongdoing by church officials arising from Thursday’s report. Spokesperson Anne Leiding told German news agency dpa that the cases were referred to them by the law firm that prepared the report last year.

If any suspicion of “possible criminally relevant behavior” emerges from the examination, Leiding said, prosecutors will seek further details from the law firm.

The law firm said on Thursday that the cases involve living officials who are still in office.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokeswoman, Christiane Hoffmann, said Friday it was “urgent that these matters be fully investigated and a comprehensive reappraisal be carried out.”

The report makes “the extent of the abuse and breach of duty by church dignitaries shockingly clear.” she said.

“It is crucial that confidence in the process of coming to terms with the past is strengthened in the Catholic Church and by individual dignitaries,” she said.

The Vatican didn’t immediately comment on the report, saying it would read it carefully in the coming days. Benedict’s longtime secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, also said the retired pope hadn’t yet read the report, but would.

Benedict, who provided information to the report’s authors, expressed his upset and shame about the scandal, Gaenswein said.

Benedict’s legacy as pope had already been colored by the 2010 global eruption of the clergy abuse scandal, even though as a cardinal he was responsible for turning around the Vatican’s approach to the issue.

Ratzinger took the then-revolutionary decision in 2001 to assume responsibility for processing abuse cases after he realized bishops around the world weren’t punishing abusers but were just moving them from parish to parish and enabling them to rape again.

That decision, however, came after Ratzinger was still sitting on cases at the Vatican. Years ago documentation emerged showing that Ratzinger in 1985 dithered on a case of a convicted child molester in California who asked to be defrocked, delaying any action for two years.

The case of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle was evidence that the Vatican under St. John Paul II strongly resisted letting priests leave active ministry, even if they were convicted rapists.

A fellow German and one of Ratzinger's successors at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, dismissed the report's findings, suggesting they were ideologically motivated to attack Ratzinger and saying if there were errors in the handling of cases, Ratzinger didn't know about them.

He noted that in the 1970s and 1980s, neither the church nor society at large handled child sex abusers properly.

“It was thought that therapy could resolve the problem. Today we know that this is useless for these criminals," he said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603292366279.png" alt="Pope Francis mage courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Pope Francis mage courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated PressROME (AP) — Pope Francis vowed Friday to provide justice to victims of clergy sexual abuse and German authorities called for further investigation after an independent audit faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI for having botched four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.The fallout from the report continued to reverberate Friday as church officials digested the findings that a pope credited with having turned the Vatican around on the abuse issue had in fact mishandled cases earlier in his career.One day after the report's release, Francis met with the members of the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases in a previously scheduled audience. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for nearly a quarter-century before he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.In his speech, Francis didn’t refer to the findings of the report into how the Munich archdiocese handled abuse cases from 1945 and 2019. Ratzinger was archbishop there from 1977-1982.But Francis said the church was continuing to discern the way forward in the abuse scandal, which has discredited the Catholic hierarchy at the Vatican and around the world.“The church, with God’s help, is carrying out the commitment with firm determination to do justice to the victims of abuse by its members, applying with particular attention and rigor to the canonical legislation envisaged,” Francis told the group.He recalled he had recently updated the Vatican norms to handle abuse cases to make them more effective.“This alone cannot be enough to stem the phenomenon, but it is a necessary step to restore justice, to repair scandal and reform the offender,” he said.The German report prepared by an independent law firm found that Ratzinger mishandled four cases of abusive clergy during his tenure as archbishop. Until Thursday, only one known case implicating his Munich tenure had been made public; the report found that the church’s claim that Ratzinger was unaware of the priest's background lacked credibility.Prosecutors in Munich said Friday they are examining 42 cases of possible wrongdoing by church officials arising from Thursday’s report. Spokesperson Anne Leiding told German news agency dpa that the cases were referred to them by the law firm that prepared the report last year.If any suspicion of “possible criminally relevant behavior” emerges from the examination, Leiding said, prosecutors will seek further details from the law firm.The law firm said on Thursday that the cases involve living officials who are still in office.Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokeswoman, Christiane Hoffmann, said Friday it was “urgent that these matters be fully investigated and a comprehensive reappraisal be carried out.”The report makes “the extent of the abuse and breach of duty by church dignitaries shockingly clear.” she said.“It is crucial that confidence in the process of coming to terms with the past is strengthened in the Catholic Church and by individual dignitaries,” she said.The Vatican didn’t immediately comment on the report, saying it would read it carefully in the coming days. Benedict’s longtime secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, also said the retired pope hadn’t yet read the report, but would.Benedict, who provided information to the report’s authors, expressed his upset and shame about the scandal, Gaenswein said.Benedict’s legacy as pope had already been colored by the 2010 global eruption of the clergy abuse scandal, even though as a cardinal he was responsible for turning around the Vatican’s approach to the issue.Ratzinger took the then-revolutionary decision in 2001 to assume responsibility for processing abuse cases after he realized bishops around the world weren’t punishing abusers but were just moving them from parish to parish and enabling them to rape again.That decision, however, came after Ratzinger was still sitting on cases at the Vatican. Years ago documentation emerged showing that Ratzinger in 1985 dithered on a case of a convicted child molester in California who asked to be defrocked, delaying any action for two years.The case of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle was evidence that the Vatican under St. John Paul II strongly resisted letting priests leave active ministry, even if they were convicted rapists.A fellow German and one of Ratzinger's successors at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, dismissed the report's findings, suggesting they were ideologically motivated to attack Ratzinger and saying if there were errors in the handling of cases, Ratzinger didn't know about them.He noted that in the 1970s and 1980s, neither the church nor society at large handled child sex abusers properly.“It was thought that therapy could resolve the problem. Today we know that this is useless for these criminals," he said.

Pope vows justice for abuse victims after retired pope faulted

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman accused of causing a crash last year that killed a motorcyclist last year has pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular homicide. 

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 18-year-old Kylie Hill entered the plea Thursday and faces up to a year in jail when she's sentenced in March. 

Investigators say Hill was driving a vehicle south on 27th Street last March when she turned left in front of 19-year-old Simon Blair's northbound bike, causing the crash. 

Blair was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman accused of causing a crash last year that killed a motorcyclist last year has pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular homicide. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 18-year-old Kylie Hill entered the plea Thursday and faces up to a year in jail when she's sentenced in March. Investigators say Hill was driving a vehicle south on 27th Street last March when she turned left in front of 19-year-old Simon Blair's northbound bike, causing the crash. Blair was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

Lincoln woman involved in fatal crash pleads no contest

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say the operator of a failed multi-state nursing home chain failed to pay $29.5 million in payroll and unemployment taxes for his employees at 95 facilities he operated in 11 states. 

Authorities arrested Joseph Schwartz of Suffern, New York, on Thursday and charged him with willful failure to pay over employment taxes, evasion of unemployment taxes and failure to file annual financial reports. 

Authorities say his New Jersey-based Skyline Management Group had approximately 15,000 employees and Schwartz failed to pay their taxes from mid-2017 through June 2018. 

Prosecutors also allege Schwartz failed to file financial reports related to Skyline’s 401K retirement plan contributions that are automatically withdrawn from an employee’s pay.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say the operator of a failed multi-state nursing home chain failed to pay $29.5 million in payroll and unemployment taxes for his employees at 95 facilities he operated in 11 states. Authorities arrested Joseph Schwartz of Suffern, New York, on Thursday and charged him with willful failure to pay over employment taxes, evasion of unemployment taxes and failure to file annual financial reports. Authorities say his New Jersey-based Skyline Management Group had approximately 15,000 employees and Schwartz failed to pay their taxes from mid-2017 through June 2018. Prosecutors also allege Schwartz failed to file financial reports related to Skyline’s 401K retirement plan contributions that are automatically withdrawn from an employee’s pay.

Feds: Nursing home operator failed to pay $29.5M in taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of pro-life protesters were in a celebratory mood Friday as they rallied in the nation’s capital and marched to the Supreme Court with a growing sense of optimism that their goal was finally in reach: a sweeping rollback of abortion rights.

The March for Life, for decades an annual protest against abortion, was held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-health-united-states-mississippi-65751e1b9ca7d34f1458ffe9729f82b2">as the Supreme Court has indicated it will allow states to impose tighter restrictions on abortion</a>&nbsp;with a ruling in the coming months — and possibly overturn the landmark 1973&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-religion-cdfb7122c609bd3563c2702af28d3254">Roe v. Wade</a>&nbsp;ruling that affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion.

“It doesn’t feel real. There’s so much hope and vibrancy and happiness and joy at this thing,” said Jordan Moorman of Cincinnati. “I really do believe that we’re in a post-Roe generation.”

The rally, held one day before the 49th anniversary of the Roe decision, is taking place amid a COVID-19 surge that limited turnout at the National Mall. Some abortion opponents posted on the event’s Facebook page that they will not attend because of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for people going to restaurants and other places&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-coronavirus-vaccine-district-of-columbia-a3d841949ada285dd8321e8a96c20687">in the District of Columbia</a>.

Still, the rally drew a crowd of thousands on a sunny but frigid day, with a heavy contingent of young people and students bussed in by schools and church groups. The mood was overwhelmingly optimistic, with many treating the end of Roe v Wade as an inevitability.

“Hopefully this will be the last March for Life,” said the Rev. Andrew Rudmann, a Catholic priest from New Orleans, who was attending his 11th event.

Rudmann said previous marches may have had larger crowds but he doesn’t recall this level of optimism. He said the crowds grew “gigantic” under former President Donald Trump and the movement’s enthusiasm grew with each Trump Supreme Court appointee. He proudly pointed out that his home Archdiocese of New Orleans includes the Catholic high school that educated Trump’s last appointee, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

“Sometimes I would come to the March and it would be great to be united with people who share my beliefs, but there would also be this heaviness,” he said. “This time the whole language and vibe is different.”

After the rally, the crowd marched to the Supreme Court with chants that included: “We love babies, yes we do, we love babies, how bout you?” and “hey hey, ho ho, Roe v Wade has got to go!”

Abortion rights groups worry that at least 26 states are in line to further limit abortion access if Roe is weakened or overturned. In December, the court indicated in a major case that it would uphold a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and allow states to ban abortion even earlier. The Mississippi case directly challenges Roe.

Courts have also dealt Texas abortion providers a string of defeats over efforts to block a law that since September has banned abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-53d084f9c8b2b9e3ee50df06224aaaa4">Another loss for Texas clinics came Thursday</a>, when the Supreme Court refused to speed up the ongoing challenge over the law, which providers say is now likely to stay in effect for the foreseeable future.

“This law is cruel and unconstitutional, and I am deeply disappointed that our judicial system has done very little to stop it,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four abortion clinics in Texas.

Lawmakers from both parties weighed in Friday to note the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reflect on the shifting political landscape surrounding abortion.

“It has been an eye-opening year for the cause of life in America, and we have made significant progress in defending our youngest and most vulnerable,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House.

“The stakes are higher than ever, with the health and autonomy of women and families across the country hanging in the balance as Republicans work to methodically challenge and overturn Roe,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “It’s time to sound the alarm and make clear: decisions about our bodies, our health care and our future belong to us.”

Dozens of GOP lawmakers appeared at the march personally or as part of a video voicing their allegiance with those in attendance. White House press secretary Jen Psaki took note of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling as part of Friday’s press briefing, saying that “reproductive health care has been under extreme and relentless assault ever since, especially in recent months.”

She said the Biden administration was committed to working with Congress to pass a bill that protects the right to provide and access abortion care free from forced waiting periods, biased counseling and other restrictions.

“We’re deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care and we will defend it with every tool we have,” Psaki said.

Mississippi state Sen. Joey Fillingane, a Republican who pushed for the state’s strict abortion laws, said that if Roe were nullified, he expects states to take different approaches to setting their own abortion laws.

“I think that’s the way it should be,” he said. “The laws in California, based on their population and what they want, may be very different than the laws in Mississippi based on what our population feels about the issue of life.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642798188768.png" alt="Lawmakers from both parties weighed in Friday to note the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reflect on the shifting political landscape surrounding abortion. photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Lawmakers from both parties weighed in Friday to note the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reflect on the shifting political landscape surrounding abortion. photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of pro-life protesters were in a celebratory mood Friday as they rallied in the nation’s capital and marched to the Supreme Court with a growing sense of optimism that their goal was finally in reach: a sweeping rollback of abortion rights.The March for Life, for decades an annual protest against abortion, was held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-health-united-states-mississippi-65751e1b9ca7d34f1458ffe9729f82b2">as the Supreme Court has indicated it will allow states to impose tighter restrictions on abortion</a>&nbsp;with a ruling in the coming months — and possibly overturn the landmark 1973&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-religion-cdfb7122c609bd3563c2702af28d3254">Roe v. Wade</a>&nbsp;ruling that affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion.“It doesn’t feel real. There’s so much hope and vibrancy and happiness and joy at this thing,” said Jordan Moorman of Cincinnati. “I really do believe that we’re in a post-Roe generation.”The rally, held one day before the 49th anniversary of the Roe decision, is taking place amid a COVID-19 surge that limited turnout at the National Mall. Some abortion opponents posted on the event’s Facebook page that they will not attend because of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for people going to restaurants and other places&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-coronavirus-vaccine-district-of-columbia-a3d841949ada285dd8321e8a96c20687">in the District of Columbia</a>.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642798163305.png" alt="After the rally, the crowd marched to the Supreme Court with chants that included: “We love babies, yes we do, we love babies, how bout you?” and “hey hey, ho ho, Roe v Wade has got to go!”-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>After the rally, the crowd marched to the Supreme Court with chants that included: “We love babies, yes we do, we love babies, how bout you?” and “hey hey, ho ho, Roe v Wade has got to go!”-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>Still, the rally drew a crowd of thousands on a sunny but frigid day, with a heavy contingent of young people and students bussed in by schools and church groups. The mood was overwhelmingly optimistic, with many treating the end of Roe v Wade as an inevitability.“Hopefully this will be the last March for Life,” said the Rev. Andrew Rudmann, a Catholic priest from New Orleans, who was attending his 11th event.Rudmann said previous marches may have had larger crowds but he doesn’t recall this level of optimism. He said the crowds grew “gigantic” under former President Donald Trump and the movement’s enthusiasm grew with each Trump Supreme Court appointee. He proudly pointed out that his home Archdiocese of New Orleans includes the Catholic high school that educated Trump’s last appointee, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.“Sometimes I would come to the March and it would be great to be united with people who share my beliefs, but there would also be this heaviness,” he said. “This time the whole language and vibe is different.”After the rally, the crowd marched to the Supreme Court with chants that included: “We love babies, yes we do, we love babies, how bout you?” and “hey hey, ho ho, Roe v Wade has got to go!”Abortion rights groups worry that at least 26 states are in line to further limit abortion access if Roe is weakened or overturned. In December, the court indicated in a major case that it would uphold a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and allow states to ban abortion even earlier. The Mississippi case directly challenges Roe.Courts have also dealt Texas abortion providers a string of defeats over efforts to block a law that since September has banned abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-53d084f9c8b2b9e3ee50df06224aaaa4">Another loss for Texas clinics came Thursday</a>, when the Supreme Court refused to speed up the ongoing challenge over the law, which providers say is now likely to stay in effect for the foreseeable future.“This law is cruel and unconstitutional, and I am deeply disappointed that our judicial system has done very little to stop it,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four abortion clinics in Texas.Lawmakers from both parties weighed in Friday to note the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reflect on the shifting political landscape surrounding abortion.“It has been an eye-opening year for the cause of life in America, and we have made significant progress in defending our youngest and most vulnerable,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House.“The stakes are higher than ever, with the health and autonomy of women and families across the country hanging in the balance as Republicans work to methodically challenge and overturn Roe,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “It’s time to sound the alarm and make clear: decisions about our bodies, our health care and our future belong to us.”Dozens of GOP lawmakers appeared at the march personally or as part of a video voicing their allegiance with those in attendance. White House press secretary Jen Psaki took note of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling as part of Friday’s press briefing, saying that “reproductive health care has been under extreme and relentless assault ever since, especially in recent months.”She said the Biden administration was committed to working with Congress to pass a bill that protects the right to provide and access abortion care free from forced waiting periods, biased counseling and other restrictions.“We’re deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care and we will defend it with every tool we have,” Psaki said.Mississippi state Sen. Joey Fillingane, a Republican who pushed for the state’s strict abortion laws, said that if Roe were nullified, he expects states to take different approaches to setting their own abortion laws.“I think that’s the way it should be,” he said. “The laws in California, based on their population and what they want, may be very different than the laws in Mississippi based on what our population feels about the issue of life.”___

Pro-Life protesters optimistic at March for Life in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction on Friday barring the federal government from enforcing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-health-lawsuits-1054028d7cbf0ef46f7ddadbdc4ae167">President Joe Biden’s requirement</a>&nbsp;that federal workers without qualifying medical or religious exemptions be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas by then-President Donald Trump, ruled that opponents of Biden’s vaccination mandate for federal employees were likely to succeed at trial and blocked the government from enforcing the requirement.

Biden announced in September that more than 3.5 million federal workers were required to undergo vaccination, with no option to get regularly tested instead, unless they secured approved medical or religious exemptions. The requirement kicked in in November, when the White House said more than 95% of federal workers were in compliance with the Biden mandate either by being vaccinated or by having requested an exemption — and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-business-travel-99b820492135ceeaf23e51b834d6ab79">92% were vaccinated</a>.

Those out of compliance with the policy were referred to counseling and could be terminated under an executive order signed by Biden.

Brown wrote that at issue was whether the president “can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment.” He added, “That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-vaccine-mandate-eb5899ae1fe5b62b6f4d51f54a3cd375">the Supreme Court</a>, is a bridge too far.”

The suit was brought by the group Feds for Medical Freedom.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction on Friday barring the federal government from enforcing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-health-lawsuits-1054028d7cbf0ef46f7ddadbdc4ae167">President Joe Biden’s requirement</a>&nbsp;that federal workers without qualifying medical or religious exemptions be vaccinated for COVID-19.Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas by then-President Donald Trump, ruled that opponents of Biden’s vaccination mandate for federal employees were likely to succeed at trial and blocked the government from enforcing the requirement.Biden announced in September that more than 3.5 million federal workers were required to undergo vaccination, with no option to get regularly tested instead, unless they secured approved medical or religious exemptions. The requirement kicked in in November, when the White House said more than 95% of federal workers were in compliance with the Biden mandate either by being vaccinated or by having requested an exemption — and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-business-travel-99b820492135ceeaf23e51b834d6ab79">92% were vaccinated</a>.Those out of compliance with the policy were referred to counseling and could be terminated under an executive order signed by Biden.Brown wrote that at issue was whether the president “can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment.” He added, “That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-vaccine-mandate-eb5899ae1fe5b62b6f4d51f54a3cd375">the Supreme Court</a>, is a bridge too far.”The suit was brought by the group Feds for Medical Freedom.

Another judge blocks Biden federal worker vaccine mandate

By JONEL ALECCIA <a href="https://khn.org/news/article/states-use-monoclonal-antibody-covid-treatment-ineffective-against-omicron/">Kaiser Health News</a>

As the omicron variant completes its sweep across the U.S., states with 
scarce supplies of monoclonal antibody therapies continue to use two 
treatments that federal health officials warn no longer work against the
 highly contagious version of the virus that causes covid-19. The 
antibody treatment now <a href="https://opendata.ncats.nih.gov/variant/activity">most recommended</a> is sotrovimab from GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, and it’s in short supply.

Use of the newly ineffective treatments produced by Regeneron 
Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Co. is highest in a dozen states. They
 include several Southern states with some of the nation’s lowest 
vaccination rates, but also California, which ranks in the nation’s top 
20 for fully vaccinated residents, a KHN analysis of federal data shows.
 Many hospitals and clinics are still infusing the costly treatments — 
often charging hundreds of dollars a session — that public health 
officials now say are almost certainly useless.

That’s because of the near-total dominance of omicron, which accounted for <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#nowcasting">99.5% of new covid infections</a> in the U.S. during the week that ended Jan. 15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That point was underscored this week by updated <a href="https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/statement-on-therapies-for-high-risk-nonhospitalized-patients/?utm_campaign=highlights">guidelines</a> from the National Institutes of Health that now recommend sotrovimab as the primary monoclonal treatment for the disease.

Unless providers are certain they are still treating patients 
infected with the delta variant, they shouldn’t use the others, said Dr.
 Mark McClellan, director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy,
 who is also a former commissioner of the FDA and former administrator 
of CMS. And the delta variant is <a href="https://tracker.rosalind.bio/dashboard?number-of-days=30&amp;graph-display=count">increasingly rare</a>, accounting for 3% of cases in Louisiana, 7% in California, and 10% in Ohio, as examples.

“There’s not a medical justification based on the evidence on the Regeneron and Lilly products,” McClellan said.

Determining which patients are infected with the delta vs. omicron 
variant is complicated, said Dr. Christian Ramers, chief of population 
health and an infectious disease specialist at Family Health Centers of 
San Diego.

His clinic is one of the few sites in the nation using laboratory 
screening of positive PCR covid tests that can tell whether patients are
 infected with delta vs. omicron — and then treating them accordingly. 
“Otherwise, you’re giving this false sense of security to a patient that
 they’re getting treatment,” Ramers said. “I don’t think it is ethical, 
and it goes against the principle of doing no harm.”

Overall, U.S. hospitals used about 72,000 doses of the Regeneron and 
Lilly monoclonal antibody therapies from Jan. 5 through Jan. 18, 
according to the <a href="https://healthdata.gov/Hospital/COVID-19-Reported-Patient-Impact-and-Hospital-Capa/g62h-syeh">latest figures</a>
 from the Department of Health and Human Services. Data regarding 
hospital-level use of sotrovimab, which became available more recently 
than the other products, is not yet available on the HHS site.

By comparison, hospitals used about 153,000 courses of the Regeneron 
and Lilly treatments from Dec. 22 through Jan. 4. They used about 
169,000 courses from Aug. 26 through Sept. 8, near the height of the 
delta surge.

On Jan. 19, hospitals still had about 295,000 doses of the Regeneron and Lilly treatments on hand.

Nationwide, the federal government is distributing <a href="https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/COVID19/therapeutics/distribution/Pages/data-tables.aspx">more than 50,000 courses</a>
 of sotrovimab per week, though it remains in short supply. The Biden 
administration has agreed to buy about 1 million doses, including about 
600,000 promised by March, <a href="https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-and-vir-biotechnology-announce-united-states-government-agreement-to-purchase-additional-supply-of-sotrovimab/">GSK officials said.</a>

Respectively, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Louisiana, 
California, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Ohio, New York, and Mississippi 
used the most courses of the Regeneron and Lilly treatments from Jan. 5 
through Jan. 18, KHN’s analysis showed.

In Florida, which used more than 5,200 courses of the outdated 
treatments during that two-week period, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has
 said he is not convinced that the Regeneron and Lilly products don’t 
work against omicron. In Florida, omicron accounted for <a href="https://tracker.rosalind.bio/dashboard?number-of-days=30&amp;graph-display=count">97% of cases</a> as of Jan. 20; delta accounted for 3%.

“We have had practitioners give both of those to people with omicron 
who said the symptoms got resolved,” he said in a Jan. 5 speech provided
 by his spokesperson, Christina Pushaw.

Federal health officials managing allocation of the monoclonal 
antibody therapies paused shipments of the Regeneron and Lilly 
treatments on Dec. 23, after laboratory tests showed they were less 
effective against the surging omicron variant than the delta variant. 
But the Biden administration <a href="https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/COVID19/investigation-MCM/Bamlanivimab-etesevimab/Pages/bamlanivimab-etesevimab-regen-cov-ordering-update.aspx">resumed shipments on Dec. 31</a>,
 after complaints from DeSantis and some doctors that those therapies 
could still help people in places where the delta variant persisted.

Regeneron itself has said its antibody treatments are ineffective 
against the omicron variant. It contains more than 30 mutations in the 
virus’s spike protein, which makes the variant better at dodging the 
monoclonal antibody treatments.

“It’s really not justified at this point unless there’s some other 
underlying secondary gain, political pressure, or perhaps the providers 
are truly not in touch with the reality of the variant proportions,” 
Ramers said.

Earlier this month, HHS officials indicated that shipments of the 
three monoclonal antibody treatments would continue through Jan. 31, 
despite the growing proportion of omicron cases. A department 
spokesperson on background said the agency would continue to assess “any
 impacts to covid-19’s therapeutic allocations.”

Monoclonal antibody treatments are lab-based molecules that mimic the
 body’s immune response to infection. They are most often given through 
IV infusion, though some can be delivered with an injection. The federal
 government has agreed to purchase millions of doses of the Regeneron 
and Lilly products at a cost of about $2,100 per dose. The medicines are
 free to consumers, though hospitals and clinics do charge fees for 
administering the drugs and monitoring patients during the process.

Other treatments expected to be effective against omicron in 
high-risk, non-hospitalized patients include AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, a 
long-acting injectable monoclonal antibody for immunocompromised people,
 and a three-day infusion of Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, which is 
approved by the FDA. New oral antiviral pills also are expected to be 
effective, although they, too, remain in short supply.

Providers in several states that have continued to use the Regeneron 
and Lilly products have offered varied reasons. Some said they believed 
delta infections continued to circulate locally; others said they felt 
desperate to try something.

Officials in Michigan, which used more than 5,800 doses of the 
Regeneron and Lilly products during the most recent two weeks, and 
California, which used more than 3,400, have allowed health care 
providers to use their clinical judgment about which treatment to 
prescribe.

But in Mississippi, where omicron is rampant and fewer than half of 
residents have been fully vaccinated, state health officer Dr. Thomas 
Dobbs called for an end to the use of the treatments.

“We will be recommending that clinicians and physicians do not use 
these products right now based on the distribution of omicron vs. 
delta,” he said during a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0N6_y9FTM">press conference.</a>

At Ramers’ clinic in San Diego, care providers have been dispensing 
scarce doses of the monoclonal antibody treatments only when they’re 
confident they’ll help. That has meant sending batches of positive PCR 
tests to a laboratory in nearby Irvine, where they are screened to see 
whether one of three target genes is not detected, a known marker for an
 omicron infection.

Patients infected with the delta variant were able to be treated with
 REGEN-COV, the Regeneron product, preserving sotrovimab for the growing
 number of omicron cases, said Pauline Lucatero, the clinic’s director 
of nursing.

“Looking into my patients’ eyes and seeing fear, just fear, all I 
could tell them is we believe this treatment works and we’re going to do
 everything we can to save as many people as we can,” she said.

Phillip Reese, an assistant professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento, contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642796023376.png" alt="Dr. Christian Ramers is an infectious disease specialist at Family Health Centers of San Diego, one of the few sites in the nation using lab screening that can tell whether patients are infected with the delta or omicron variant, then treating them accordingly. “Otherwise, you’re giving this false sense of security to a patient that they’re getting treatment,” Ramers says. (Family Health Centers of San Diego)" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Christian Ramers is an infectious disease specialist at Family Health Centers of San Diego, one of the few sites in the nation using lab screening that can tell whether patients are infected with the delta or omicron variant, then treating them accordingly. “Otherwise, you’re giving this false sense of security to a patient that they’re getting treatment,” Ramers says. (Family Health Centers of San Diego)</figcaption>
 </figure>By JONEL ALECCIA <a href="https://khn.org/news/article/states-use-monoclonal-antibody-covid-treatment-ineffective-against-omicron/">Kaiser Health News</a>As the omicron variant completes its sweep across the U.S., states with 
scarce supplies of monoclonal antibody therapies continue to use two 
treatments that federal health officials warn no longer work against the
 highly contagious version of the virus that causes covid-19. The 
antibody treatment now <a href="https://opendata.ncats.nih.gov/variant/activity">most recommended</a> is sotrovimab from GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, and it’s in short supply.Use of the newly ineffective treatments produced by Regeneron 
Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Co. is highest in a dozen states. They
 include several Southern states with some of the nation’s lowest 
vaccination rates, but also California, which ranks in the nation’s top 
20 for fully vaccinated residents, a KHN analysis of federal data shows.
 Many hospitals and clinics are still infusing the costly treatments — 
often charging hundreds of dollars a session — that public health 
officials now say are almost certainly useless.That’s because of the near-total dominance of omicron, which accounted for <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#nowcasting">99.5% of new covid infections</a> in the U.S. during the week that ended Jan. 15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.That point was underscored this week by updated <a href="https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/statement-on-therapies-for-high-risk-nonhospitalized-patients/?utm_campaign=highlights">guidelines</a> from the National Institutes of Health that now recommend sotrovimab as the primary monoclonal treatment for the disease.Unless providers are certain they are still treating patients 
infected with the delta variant, they shouldn’t use the others, said Dr.
 Mark McClellan, director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy,
 who is also a former commissioner of the FDA and former administrator 
of CMS. And the delta variant is <a href="https://tracker.rosalind.bio/dashboard?number-of-days=30&amp;graph-display=count">increasingly rare</a>, accounting for 3% of cases in Louisiana, 7% in California, and 10% in Ohio, as examples.“There’s not a medical justification based on the evidence on the Regeneron and Lilly products,” McClellan said.Determining which patients are infected with the delta vs. omicron 
variant is complicated, said Dr. Christian Ramers, chief of population 
health and an infectious disease specialist at Family Health Centers of 
San Diego.His clinic is one of the few sites in the nation using laboratory 
screening of positive PCR covid tests that can tell whether patients are
 infected with delta vs. omicron — and then treating them accordingly. 
“Otherwise, you’re giving this false sense of security to a patient that
 they’re getting treatment,” Ramers said. “I don’t think it is ethical, 
and it goes against the principle of doing no harm.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642796149905.png" alt="At Dr. Christian Ramers’ clinic in San Diego, care providers have been dispensing scarce doses of the monoclonal antibody treatments only when they’re confident they’ll help. Prescribing monoclonals that aren’t effective against the omicron variant “goes against the principle of doing no harm,” Ramers says. (Family Health Centers of San Diego)" />
 <figcaption>At Dr. Christian Ramers’ clinic in San Diego, care providers have been dispensing scarce doses of the monoclonal antibody treatments only when they’re confident they’ll help. Prescribing monoclonals that aren’t effective against the omicron variant “goes against the principle of doing no harm,” Ramers says. (Family Health Centers of San Diego)</figcaption>
 </figure>Overall, U.S. hospitals used about 72,000 doses of the Regeneron and 
Lilly monoclonal antibody therapies from Jan. 5 through Jan. 18, 
according to the <a href="https://healthdata.gov/Hospital/COVID-19-Reported-Patient-Impact-and-Hospital-Capa/g62h-syeh">latest figures</a>
 from the Department of Health and Human Services. Data regarding 
hospital-level use of sotrovimab, which became available more recently 
than the other products, is not yet available on the HHS site.By comparison, hospitals used about 153,000 courses of the Regeneron 
and Lilly treatments from Dec. 22 through Jan. 4. They used about 
169,000 courses from Aug. 26 through Sept. 8, near the height of the 
delta surge.On Jan. 19, hospitals still had about 295,000 doses of the Regeneron and Lilly treatments on hand.Nationwide, the federal government is distributing <a href="https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/COVID19/therapeutics/distribution/Pages/data-tables.aspx">more than 50,000 courses</a>
 of sotrovimab per week, though it remains in short supply. The Biden 
administration has agreed to buy about 1 million doses, including about 
600,000 promised by March, <a href="https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-and-vir-biotechnology-announce-united-states-government-agreement-to-purchase-additional-supply-of-sotrovimab/">GSK officials said.</a>Respectively, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Louisiana, 
California, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Ohio, New York, and Mississippi 
used the most courses of the Regeneron and Lilly treatments from Jan. 5 
through Jan. 18, KHN’s analysis showed.In Florida, which used more than 5,200 courses of the outdated 
treatments during that two-week period, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has
 said he is not convinced that the Regeneron and Lilly products don’t 
work against omicron. In Florida, omicron accounted for <a href="https://tracker.rosalind.bio/dashboard?number-of-days=30&amp;graph-display=count">97% of cases</a> as of Jan. 20; delta accounted for 3%.“We have had practitioners give both of those to people with omicron 
who said the symptoms got resolved,” he said in a Jan. 5 speech provided
 by his spokesperson, Christina Pushaw.Federal health officials managing allocation of the monoclonal 
antibody therapies paused shipments of the Regeneron and Lilly 
treatments on Dec. 23, after laboratory tests showed they were less 
effective against the surging omicron variant than the delta variant. 
But the Biden administration <a href="https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/COVID19/investigation-MCM/Bamlanivimab-etesevimab/Pages/bamlanivimab-etesevimab-regen-cov-ordering-update.aspx">resumed shipments on Dec. 31</a>,
 after complaints from DeSantis and some doctors that those therapies 
could still help people in places where the delta variant persisted.Regeneron itself has said its antibody treatments are ineffective 
against the omicron variant. It contains more than 30 mutations in the 
virus’s spike protein, which makes the variant better at dodging the 
monoclonal antibody treatments.“It’s really not justified at this point unless there’s some other 
underlying secondary gain, political pressure, or perhaps the providers 
are truly not in touch with the reality of the variant proportions,” 
Ramers said.Earlier this month, HHS officials indicated that shipments of the 
three monoclonal antibody treatments would continue through Jan. 31, 
despite the growing proportion of omicron cases. A department 
spokesperson on background said the agency would continue to assess “any
 impacts to covid-19’s therapeutic allocations.”Monoclonal antibody treatments are lab-based molecules that mimic the
 body’s immune response to infection. They are most often given through 
IV infusion, though some can be delivered with an injection. The federal
 government has agreed to purchase millions of doses of the Regeneron 
and Lilly products at a cost of about $2,100 per dose. The medicines are
 free to consumers, though hospitals and clinics do charge fees for 
administering the drugs and monitoring patients during the process.Other treatments expected to be effective against omicron in 
high-risk, non-hospitalized patients include AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, a 
long-acting injectable monoclonal antibody for immunocompromised people,
 and a three-day infusion of Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, which is 
approved by the FDA. New oral antiviral pills also are expected to be 
effective, although they, too, remain in short supply.Providers in several states that have continued to use the Regeneron 
and Lilly products have offered varied reasons. Some said they believed 
delta infections continued to circulate locally; others said they felt 
desperate to try something.Officials in Michigan, which used more than 5,800 doses of the 
Regeneron and Lilly products during the most recent two weeks, and 
California, which used more than 3,400, have allowed health care 
providers to use their clinical judgment about which treatment to 
prescribe.But in Mississippi, where omicron is rampant and fewer than half of 
residents have been fully vaccinated, state health officer Dr. Thomas 
Dobbs called for an end to the use of the treatments.“We will be recommending that clinicians and physicians do not use 
these products right now based on the distribution of omicron vs. 
delta,” he said during a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0N6_y9FTM">press conference.</a>At Ramers’ clinic in San Diego, care providers have been dispensing 
scarce doses of the monoclonal antibody treatments only when they’re 
confident they’ll help. That has meant sending batches of positive PCR 
tests to a laboratory in nearby Irvine, where they are screened to see 
whether one of three target genes is not detected, a known marker for an
 omicron infection.Patients infected with the delta variant were able to be treated with
 REGEN-COV, the Regeneron product, preserving sotrovimab for the growing
 number of omicron cases, said Pauline Lucatero, the clinic’s director 
of nursing.“Looking into my patients’ eyes and seeing fear, just fear, all I 
could tell them is we believe this treatment works and we’re going to do
 everything we can to save as many people as we can,” she said.Phillip Reese, an assistant professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento, contributed to this report.

Patient, beware: States still pushing ineffective COVID antibody treatments

GRAND ISLAND — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested two people after locating more than 200 pounds of marijuana and THC products during a traffic stop on Interstate 80.

At approximately 9:50 a.m. Thursday, a trooper observed an eastbound Winnebago RV speeding on I-80 at mile marker 348, near Bradshaw. During the traffic stop, an NSP K9 detected the odor of a controlled substance coming from inside the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle revealed 109 pounds of marijuana and 122 pounds of THC edibles. The driver, Adolfo Ramos, 26, of Riverside, California, and passenger Andrew Urena, 30, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, were both arrested for possession of marijuana – more than one pound, possession with intent to deliver, and no drug tax stamp.

Both were lodged in York County Jail. The York County Sheriff’s Office assisted in this incident.

GRAND ISLAND — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested two people after locating more than 200 pounds of marijuana and THC products during a traffic stop on Interstate 80.At approximately 9:50 a.m. Thursday, a trooper observed an eastbound Winnebago RV speeding on I-80 at mile marker 348, near Bradshaw. During the traffic stop, an NSP K9 detected the odor of a controlled substance coming from inside the vehicle.A search of the vehicle revealed 109 pounds of marijuana and 122 pounds of THC edibles. The driver, Adolfo Ramos, 26, of Riverside, California, and passenger Andrew Urena, 30, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, were both arrested for possession of marijuana – more than one pound, possession with intent to deliver, and no drug tax stamp.Both were lodged in York County Jail. The York County Sheriff’s Office assisted in this incident.

Troopers find 231 LBs of marijuana, THC products in I-80 traffic stop

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man charged with fatally hitting another man in his Lincoln front yard has pleaded no contest to attempting to leave the scene of a fatal accident and misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide.

 The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 31-year-old Hani Hadgi faces more time behind bars when he's sentenced in March. 

Prosecutors say Hadgi was driving a sport utility vehicle recklessly when he hit 41-year-old Victor Melendez the night of Sept. 22, 2020. 

An officer who arrived at the scene of the crash testified he saw Hadgi get out of the crashed SUV and leave in a red car, without checking on Melendez. 

Hadgi is already serving a two- to three-year prison sentence on separate drug charges.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man charged with fatally hitting another man in his Lincoln front yard has pleaded no contest to attempting to leave the scene of a fatal accident and misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 31-year-old Hani Hadgi faces more time behind bars when he's sentenced in March. Prosecutors say Hadgi was driving a sport utility vehicle recklessly when he hit 41-year-old Victor Melendez the night of Sept. 22, 2020. An officer who arrived at the scene of the crash testified he saw Hadgi get out of the crashed SUV and leave in a red car, without checking on Melendez. Hadgi is already serving a two- to three-year prison sentence on separate drug charges.

Man pleads no contest to 2020 fatal hit-and-run in Lincoln

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a woman who was walking the traffic lanes of a busy Omaha street died after being hit by a car. 

Television station WOWT reports that the crash happened just after 10 p.m. Thursday on Maple Street near the intersection of 95th Street.

 Investigators say a 37-year-old man driving a car along Maple came upon 35-year-old Victoria Castro walking in the westbound lane and swerved, but was unable to avoid hitting Castro. 

Castro was taken with critical injuries to a hospital, where she died.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a woman who was walking the traffic lanes of a busy Omaha street died after being hit by a car. Television station WOWT reports that the crash happened just after 10 p.m. Thursday on Maple Street near the intersection of 95th Street. Investigators say a 37-year-old man driving a car along Maple came upon 35-year-old Victoria Castro walking in the westbound lane and swerved, but was unable to avoid hitting Castro. Castro was taken with critical injuries to a hospital, where she died. The driver of the car was not injured.

Investigators: Woman walking in Omaha street fatally hit

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gretna High School has been stripped of its 2021 Class A state football championship following a vote of the Nebraska Schools Activities Association board.

 The board voted 8-0 to uphold executive director Jay Bellar’s ruling that the Dragons used an ineligible player last season. 

Gretna beat Omaha Westside 7-3 in the November title game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

 The school must return the championship trophy, but the players will be allowed to keep their medals. 

There will be no Class A champion listed for 2021.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gretna High School has been stripped of its 2021 Class A state football championship following a vote of the Nebraska Schools Activities Association board. The board voted 8-0 to uphold executive director Jay Bellar’s ruling that the Dragons used an ineligible player last season. Gretna beat Omaha Westside 7-3 in the November title game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The school must return the championship trophy, but the players will be allowed to keep their medals. There will be no Class A champion listed for 2021.

Gretna stripped of 2021 state high school football title

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Attorney General is accusing a couple from Brooklyn, New York, of committing a $59.6 million Medicaid fraud involving several nursing homes in Nebraska.

 In a complaint filed in Lancaster County, Joseph and Rosie Schwartz and Skyline Healthcare are accused of making decisions that were detrimental to 22 Nebraska nursing homes in order to enrich themselves.

 The homes were operated under the Cottonwood Healthcare name. 

The couple's facilities were put in receivership in 2018. 

The Lincoln Journal Star reports the lawsuit says the company made false records and did not maintain documents in order to receive payments to which they were not entitled.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Attorney General is accusing a couple from Brooklyn, New York, of committing a $59.6 million Medicaid fraud involving several nursing homes in Nebraska. In a complaint filed in Lancaster County, Joseph and Rosie Schwartz and Skyline Healthcare are accused of making decisions that were detrimental to 22 Nebraska nursing homes in order to enrich themselves. The homes were operated under the Cottonwood Healthcare name. The couple's facilities were put in receivership in 2018. The Lincoln Journal Star reports the lawsuit says the company made false records and did not maintain documents in order to receive payments to which they were not entitled.

New York couple accused of Nebraska nursing homes fraud

OMAHA&nbsp; — The latest and greatest in the automotive industry will be on display this weekend at the Midlands International Auto Show and Nebraska State Troopers will be on hand to promote traffic safety.

“The Midlands Auto Show is an excellent place to connect with the public and the auto industry to promote traffic safety,” said Captain Matt Sutter, Commander of Troop A, based in Omaha. “We’ll have troopers there to showcase the life-saving power of seat belts, as well as discuss the dangers of impaired and distracted driving.”

The Midlands International Auto Show runs from Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 23, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. The event features the latest innovations of the automotive industry.

OMAHA&nbsp; — The latest and greatest in the automotive industry will be on display this weekend at the Midlands International Auto Show and Nebraska State Troopers will be on hand to promote traffic safety.“The Midlands Auto Show is an excellent place to connect with the public and the auto industry to promote traffic safety,” said Captain Matt Sutter, Commander of Troop A, based in Omaha. “We’ll have troopers there to showcase the life-saving power of seat belts, as well as discuss the dangers of impaired and distracted driving.”The Midlands International Auto Show runs from Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 23, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. The event features the latest innovations of the automotive industry.Visitors to the auto show will have the opportunity to experience seat belt demonstrations such as the NSP Seat Belt Persuader. The NSP booth is located in the center-rear of the exhibition hall. The NSP booth is made possible thanks to the Nebraska Department of Transportation – Highway Safety Office.Visitors can get more information about the show at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.omahaautoshow.com/" target="_blank">Omaha Auto Show</a>.