NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon is recalling 2.5 million mobile hotspots after some reports of overheating and two reports of minor burns. 

The 4G hotspots were used by schools and sold by stores. They are called Ellipsis Jetpack mobile hotspots and were imported by Franklin Wireless in San Diego. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says the lithium-ion battery in the hotspots can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards. 

Out of the 2.5 million units, there have been 15 reports of devices overheating, including two reports of minor burns.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1617972890098.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon is recalling 2.5 million mobile hotspots after some reports of overheating and two reports of minor burns. The 4G hotspots were used by schools and sold by stores. They are called Ellipsis Jetpack mobile hotspots and were imported by Franklin Wireless in San Diego. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says the lithium-ion battery in the hotspots can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards. Out of the 2.5 million units, there have been 15 reports of devices overheating, including two reports of minor burns.

Verizon recalls mobile hotspots sold to schools, in stores

LONDON (AP) — Prince Philip, the irascible and tough-minded husband of Queen Elizabeth II who spent more than seven decades supporting his wife in a role that both defined and constricted his life, has died, Buckingham Palace said Friday. He was 99.

His life spanned nearly a century of European history, starting with his birth as a member of the Greek royal family and ending as Britain’s longest serving consort during a turbulent reign in which the thousand-year-old monarchy was forced to reinvent itself for the 21st century.

He was known for his occasionally racist and sexist remarks — and for gamely fulfilling more than 20,000 royal engagements to boost British interests at home and abroad. He headed hundreds of charities, founded programs that helped British schoolchildren participate in challenging outdoor adventures, and played a prominent part in raising his four children, including his eldest son, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne.

Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle.

“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the palace said. “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”

Philip saw his sole role as providing support for his wife, who began her reign as Britain retreated from empire and steered the monarchy through decades of declining social deference and U.K. power into a modern world where people demand intimacy from their icons.

In the 1970s, Michael Parker, an old navy friend and former private secretary of the prince, said of him: “He told me the first day he offered me my job, that his job — first, second and last — was never to let her down.”

Speaking outside 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson noted the support Philip provided to the queen, saying he “helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.”

The queen, a very private person not given to extravagant displays of affection, once called him “her rock” in public.

In private, Philip called his wife Lilibet; but he referred to her in conversation with others as “The Queen.”

Over the decades, Philip’s image changed from that of handsome, dashing athlete to arrogant and insensitive curmudgeon. In his later years, the image finally settled into that of droll and philosophical observer of the times, an elderly, craggy-faced man who maintained his military bearing despite ailments.

The popular Netflix series “The Crown” gave Philip a central role, with a slightly racy, swashbuckling image. He never commented on it in public, but the portrayal struck a chord with many Britons, including younger viewers who had only known him as an elderly man.

Philip’s position was a challenging one — there is no official role for the husband of a sovereign queen — and his life was marked by extraordinary contradictions between his public and private duties. He always walked three paces behind his wife in public, in a show of deference to the monarch, but he was the head of the family in private. Still, his son Charles, as heir to the throne, had a larger income, as well as access to the high-level government papers Philip was not permitted to see.

Philip often took a wry approach to his unusual place at the royal table.

“Constitutionally, I don’t exist,” said Philip, who in 2009 became the longest-serving consort in British history, surpassing Queen Charlotte, who married King George III in the18th century.

He frequently struggled to find his place — a friction that would later be echoed in his grandson Prince Harry’s decision to give up royal duties.

“There was no precedent,” he said in a rare interview with the BBC to mark his 90th birthday. “If I asked somebody, ‘What do you expect me to do?’ they all looked blank.”

But having given up a promising naval career to become consort when Elizabeth became queen at age 25, Philip was not content to stay on the sidelines and enjoy a life of ease and wealth. He promoted British industry and science, espoused environmental preservation long before it became fashionable, and traveled widely and frequently in support of his many charities.

In those frequent public appearances, Philip developed a reputation for being impatient and demanding and was sometimes blunt to the point of rudeness.

Many Britons appreciated what they saw as his propensity to speak his mind, while others criticized behavior they labeled offensive and out of touch.

In 1995, for example, he asked a Scottish driving instructor, “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” Seven years later in Australia, when visiting Aboriginal people with the queen, he asked: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”

Many believe his propensity to speak his mind meant he provided needed, unvarnished advice to the queen.

“The way that he survived in the British monarchy system was to be his own man, and that was a source of support to the queen,” said royal historian Robert Lacey. “All her life she was surrounded by men who said, ‘yes ma’am’ and he was one man who always told her how it really was, or at least how he saw it.”

Lacey said at the time of the royal family’s difficult relations with Princess Diana after her marriage to Charles broke down, Philip spoke for the family with authority, showing that he did not automatically defer to the queen.

Philip’s relationship with Diana became complicated as her separation from Charles and their eventual divorce played out in a series of public battles that damaged the monarchy’s standing.

It was widely assumed that he was critical of Diana’s use of broadcast interviews, including one in which she accused Charles of infidelity. But letters between Philip and Diana released after her death showed that the older man was at times supportive of his daughter-in-law.

After Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Philip had to endure allegations by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed that he had plotted the princess’s death. Al Fayed’s son, Dodi, also died in the crash.

During a lengthy inquest into their deaths, a senior judge acting as coroner instructed the jury that there was no evidence to support the allegations against Philip, who did not publicly respond to Al Fayed’s charges.

Philip’s final years were clouded by controversy and fissures in the royal family.

His third child, Prince Andrew, was embroiled in scandal over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

U.S. authorities accused Andrew of rebuffing their request to interview him as a witness, and Andrew faced accusations from a woman who said that she had several sexual encounters with the prince at Epstein’s behest. He denied the claim but withdrew from public royal duties amid the scandal.

At the start of 2020, Philip’s grandson Harry and his wife, the American former actress Meghan Markle, announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America to escape intense media scrutiny that they found unbearable.

Born June 10, 1921, on the dining room table at his parents’ home on the Greek island of Corfu, Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew, younger brother of the king of Greece. His grandfather had come from Denmark during the 1860s to be adopted by Greece as the country’s monarch.

Philip’s mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg, a descendent of German princes. Like his future wife, Elizabeth, Philip was also a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

When Philip was 18 months old, his parents fled to France. His father, an army commander, had been tried after a devastating military defeat by the Turks. After British intervention, the Greek junta agreed not to sentence Andrew to death if he left the country.

The family was not exactly poor but, Philip said: “We weren’t well off” — and they got by with help from relatives. He later brought only his navy pay to a marriage with one of the world’s richest women.

Philip’s parents drifted apart when he was a child, and Andrew died in Monte Carlo in 1944. Alice founded a religious order that did not succeed and spent her old age at Buckingham Palace. A reclusive figure, often dressed in a nun’s habit, she was little seen by the British public. She died in 1969 and was posthumously honored by Britain and Israel for sheltering a Jewish family in Nazi-occupied Athens during the war.

Philip went to school in Britain and entered Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth as a cadet in 1939. He got his first posting in 1940 but was not allowed near the main war zone because he was a foreign prince of a neutral nation. When the Italian invasion of Greece ended that neutrality, he joined the war, serving on battleships in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific.

On leave in Britain, he visited his royal cousins, and, by the end of war, it was clear he was courting Princess Elizabeth, eldest child and heir of King George VI. Their engagement was announced July 10, 1947, and they were married on Nov. 20.

After an initial flurry of disapproval that Elizabeth was marrying a foreigner, Philip’s athletic skills, good looks and straight talk lent a distinct glamour to the royal family.

Elizabeth beamed in his presence, and they had a son and daughter while she was still free of the obligations of serving as monarch.

But King George VI died of cancer in 1952 at age 56.

Philip had to give up his naval career, and his subservient status was formally sealed at the coronation, when he knelt before his wife and pledged to become “her liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship.”

The change in Philip’s life was dramatic.

“Within the house, and whatever we did, it was together,” Philip told biographer Basil Boothroyd of the years before Elizabeth became queen. “People used to come to me and ask me what to do. In 1952, the whole thing changed, very, very considerably.”

Said Boothroyd: “He had a choice between just tagging along, the second handshake in the receiving line, or finding other outlets for his bursting energies.”

So Philip took over management of the royal estates and expanded his travels to all corners of the world, building a role for himself.

From 1956, he was Patron and Chairman of Trustees for the largest youth activity program in Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a program of practical, cultural and adventurous activities for young people that exists in over 100 countries. Millions of British children have had some contact with the award and its famous camping expeditions.

He painted, collected modern art, was interested in industrial design and planned a garden at Windsor Castle. But, he once said, “the arts world thinks of me as an uncultured, polo-playing clot.”

In time, the famous blond hair thinned and the long, fine-boned face acquired a few lines. He gave up polo but remained trim and vigorous.

To a friend’s suggestion that he ease up a bit, the prince is said to have replied, “Well, what would I do? Sit around and knit?”

But when he turned 90 in 2011, Philip told the BBC he was “winding down” his workload and he reckoned he had “done my bit.”

The next few years saw occasional hospital stays as Philip’s health flagged.

He announced in May 2017 that he planned to step back from royal duties, and he stopped scheduling new commitments — after roughly 22,000 royal engagements since his wife’s coronation. In 2019, he gave up his driver’s license after a serious car crash.

Philip is survived by the queen and their four children — Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — as well as eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

The grandchildren are Charles’ sons, Prince William and Prince Harry; Anne’s children, Peter and Zara Phillips; Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and Edward’s children, Lady Louise and Viscount Severn.

The great-grandchildren are William and Kate’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis; Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie; Savannah and Isla, the daughters of Peter Phillips and his wife, Autumn; Mia, Lena and Lucas, the children of Zara Phillips and her husband, Mike Tindall; and Eugenie’s son, August, with her husband, Jack Brooksbank

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613578226437.png" alt="Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh during a stop in Virginia with Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh during a stop in Virginia with Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — Prince Philip, the irascible and tough-minded husband of Queen Elizabeth II who spent more than seven decades supporting his wife in a role that both defined and constricted his life, has died, Buckingham Palace said Friday. He was 99.His life spanned nearly a century of European history, starting with his birth as a member of the Greek royal family and ending as Britain’s longest serving consort during a turbulent reign in which the thousand-year-old monarchy was forced to reinvent itself for the 21st century.He was known for his occasionally racist and sexist remarks — and for gamely fulfilling more than 20,000 royal engagements to boost British interests at home and abroad. He headed hundreds of charities, founded programs that helped British schoolchildren participate in challenging outdoor adventures, and played a prominent part in raising his four children, including his eldest son, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne.Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle.“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the palace said. “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”Philip saw his sole role as providing support for his wife, who began her reign as Britain retreated from empire and steered the monarchy through decades of declining social deference and U.K. power into a modern world where people demand intimacy from their icons.In the 1970s, Michael Parker, an old navy friend and former private secretary of the prince, said of him: “He told me the first day he offered me my job, that his job — first, second and last — was never to let her down.”Speaking outside 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson noted the support Philip provided to the queen, saying he “helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.”The queen, a very private person not given to extravagant displays of affection, once called him “her rock” in public.In private, Philip called his wife Lilibet; but he referred to her in conversation with others as “The Queen.”Over the decades, Philip’s image changed from that of handsome, dashing athlete to arrogant and insensitive curmudgeon. In his later years, the image finally settled into that of droll and philosophical observer of the times, an elderly, craggy-faced man who maintained his military bearing despite ailments.The popular Netflix series “The Crown” gave Philip a central role, with a slightly racy, swashbuckling image. He never commented on it in public, but the portrayal struck a chord with many Britons, including younger viewers who had only known him as an elderly man.Philip’s position was a challenging one — there is no official role for the husband of a sovereign queen — and his life was marked by extraordinary contradictions between his public and private duties. He always walked three paces behind his wife in public, in a show of deference to the monarch, but he was the head of the family in private. Still, his son Charles, as heir to the throne, had a larger income, as well as access to the high-level government papers Philip was not permitted to see.Philip often took a wry approach to his unusual place at the royal table.“Constitutionally, I don’t exist,” said Philip, who in 2009 became the longest-serving consort in British history, surpassing Queen Charlotte, who married King George III in the18th century.He frequently struggled to find his place — a friction that would later be echoed in his grandson Prince Harry’s decision to give up royal duties.“There was no precedent,” he said in a rare interview with the BBC to mark his 90th birthday. “If I asked somebody, ‘What do you expect me to do?’ they all looked blank.”But having given up a promising naval career to become consort when Elizabeth became queen at age 25, Philip was not content to stay on the sidelines and enjoy a life of ease and wealth. He promoted British industry and science, espoused environmental preservation long before it became fashionable, and traveled widely and frequently in support of his many charities.In those frequent public appearances, Philip developed a reputation for being impatient and demanding and was sometimes blunt to the point of rudeness.Many Britons appreciated what they saw as his propensity to speak his mind, while others criticized behavior they labeled offensive and out of touch.In 1995, for example, he asked a Scottish driving instructor, “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” Seven years later in Australia, when visiting Aboriginal people with the queen, he asked: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”Many believe his propensity to speak his mind meant he provided needed, unvarnished advice to the queen.“The way that he survived in the British monarchy system was to be his own man, and that was a source of support to the queen,” said royal historian Robert Lacey. “All her life she was surrounded by men who said, ‘yes ma’am’ and he was one man who always told her how it really was, or at least how he saw it.”Lacey said at the time of the royal family’s difficult relations with Princess Diana after her marriage to Charles broke down, Philip spoke for the family with authority, showing that he did not automatically defer to the queen.Philip’s relationship with Diana became complicated as her separation from Charles and their eventual divorce played out in a series of public battles that damaged the monarchy’s standing.It was widely assumed that he was critical of Diana’s use of broadcast interviews, including one in which she accused Charles of infidelity. But letters between Philip and Diana released after her death showed that the older man was at times supportive of his daughter-in-law.After Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Philip had to endure allegations by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed that he had plotted the princess’s death. Al Fayed’s son, Dodi, also died in the crash.During a lengthy inquest into their deaths, a senior judge acting as coroner instructed the jury that there was no evidence to support the allegations against Philip, who did not publicly respond to Al Fayed’s charges.Philip’s final years were clouded by controversy and fissures in the royal family.His third child, Prince Andrew, was embroiled in scandal over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.U.S. authorities accused Andrew of rebuffing their request to interview him as a witness, and Andrew faced accusations from a woman who said that she had several sexual encounters with the prince at Epstein’s behest. He denied the claim but withdrew from public royal duties amid the scandal.At the start of 2020, Philip’s grandson Harry and his wife, the American former actress Meghan Markle, announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America to escape intense media scrutiny that they found unbearable.Born June 10, 1921, on the dining room table at his parents’ home on the Greek island of Corfu, Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew, younger brother of the king of Greece. His grandfather had come from Denmark during the 1860s to be adopted by Greece as the country’s monarch.Philip’s mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg, a descendent of German princes. Like his future wife, Elizabeth, Philip was also a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.When Philip was 18 months old, his parents fled to France. His father, an army commander, had been tried after a devastating military defeat by the Turks. After British intervention, the Greek junta agreed not to sentence Andrew to death if he left the country.The family was not exactly poor but, Philip said: “We weren’t well off” — and they got by with help from relatives. He later brought only his navy pay to a marriage with one of the world’s richest women.Philip’s parents drifted apart when he was a child, and Andrew died in Monte Carlo in 1944. Alice founded a religious order that did not succeed and spent her old age at Buckingham Palace. A reclusive figure, often dressed in a nun’s habit, she was little seen by the British public. She died in 1969 and was posthumously honored by Britain and Israel for sheltering a Jewish family in Nazi-occupied Athens during the war.Philip went to school in Britain and entered Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth as a cadet in 1939. He got his first posting in 1940 but was not allowed near the main war zone because he was a foreign prince of a neutral nation. When the Italian invasion of Greece ended that neutrality, he joined the war, serving on battleships in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific.On leave in Britain, he visited his royal cousins, and, by the end of war, it was clear he was courting Princess Elizabeth, eldest child and heir of King George VI. Their engagement was announced July 10, 1947, and they were married on Nov. 20.After an initial flurry of disapproval that Elizabeth was marrying a foreigner, Philip’s athletic skills, good looks and straight talk lent a distinct glamour to the royal family.Elizabeth beamed in his presence, and they had a son and daughter while she was still free of the obligations of serving as monarch.But King George VI died of cancer in 1952 at age 56.Philip had to give up his naval career, and his subservient status was formally sealed at the coronation, when he knelt before his wife and pledged to become “her liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship.”The change in Philip’s life was dramatic.“Within the house, and whatever we did, it was together,” Philip told biographer Basil Boothroyd of the years before Elizabeth became queen. “People used to come to me and ask me what to do. In 1952, the whole thing changed, very, very considerably.”Said Boothroyd: “He had a choice between just tagging along, the second handshake in the receiving line, or finding other outlets for his bursting energies.”So Philip took over management of the royal estates and expanded his travels to all corners of the world, building a role for himself.From 1956, he was Patron and Chairman of Trustees for the largest youth activity program in Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a program of practical, cultural and adventurous activities for young people that exists in over 100 countries. Millions of British children have had some contact with the award and its famous camping expeditions.He painted, collected modern art, was interested in industrial design and planned a garden at Windsor Castle. But, he once said, “the arts world thinks of me as an uncultured, polo-playing clot.”In time, the famous blond hair thinned and the long, fine-boned face acquired a few lines. He gave up polo but remained trim and vigorous.To a friend’s suggestion that he ease up a bit, the prince is said to have replied, “Well, what would I do? Sit around and knit?”But when he turned 90 in 2011, Philip told the BBC he was “winding down” his workload and he reckoned he had “done my bit.”The next few years saw occasional hospital stays as Philip’s health flagged.He announced in May 2017 that he planned to step back from royal duties, and he stopped scheduling new commitments — after roughly 22,000 royal engagements since his wife’s coronation. In 2019, he gave up his driver’s license after a serious car crash.Philip is survived by the queen and their four children — Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — as well as eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.The grandchildren are Charles’ sons, Prince William and Prince Harry; Anne’s children, Peter and Zara Phillips; Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and Edward’s children, Lady Louise and Viscount Severn.The great-grandchildren are William and Kate’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis; Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie; Savannah and Isla, the daughters of Peter Phillips and his wife, Autumn; Mia, Lena and Lucas, the children of Zara Phillips and her husband, Mike Tindall; and Eugenie’s son, August, with her husband, Jack Brooksbank

More on death of Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II

Businesses can temporarily deduct 100% beginning January 1, 2021

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today issued <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-21-25.pdf">Notice 2021-25&nbsp;PDF</a>
 providing guidance under the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Act
 of 2020. The Act added a temporary exception to the 50% limit on the 
amount that businesses may deduct for food or beverages. The temporary 
exception allows a 100% deduction for food or beverages from 
restaurants.

Beginning January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2022, businesses can 
claim 100% of their food or beverage expenses paid to restaurants as 
long as the business owner (or an employee of the business) is present 
when food or beverages are provided and the expense is not lavish or 
extravagant under the circumstances.

Where can businesses get food and beverages and claim 100%?

Under the temporary provision, restaurants include businesses that 
prepare and sell food or beverages to retail customers for immediate 
on-premises and/or off-premises consumption. However, restaurants do not
 include businesses that primarily sell pre-packaged goods not for 
immediate consumption, such as grocery stores and convenience stores.

Additionally, an employer may not treat certain employer-operated 
eating facilities as restaurants, even if these facilities are operated 
by a third party under contract with the employer.

More <a href="https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-tax-relief-for-businesses-and-tax-exempt-entities">information for businesses seeking coronavirus related tax relief</a> can be found at IRS.gov.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRS<h2>Businesses can temporarily deduct 100% beginning January 1, 2021</h2>IR-2021-79, April 8, 2021WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today issued <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-21-25.pdf">Notice 2021-25&nbsp;PDF</a>
 providing guidance under the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Act
 of 2020. The Act added a temporary exception to the 50% limit on the 
amount that businesses may deduct for food or beverages. The temporary 
exception allows a 100% deduction for food or beverages from 
restaurants.Beginning January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2022, businesses can 
claim 100% of their food or beverage expenses paid to restaurants as 
long as the business owner (or an employee of the business) is present 
when food or beverages are provided and the expense is not lavish or 
extravagant under the circumstances.<h2>Where can businesses get food and beverages and claim 100%?</h2>Under the temporary provision, restaurants include businesses that 
prepare and sell food or beverages to retail customers for immediate 
on-premises and/or off-premises consumption. However, restaurants do not
 include businesses that primarily sell pre-packaged goods not for 
immediate consumption, such as grocery stores and convenience stores.Additionally, an employer may not treat certain employer-operated 
eating facilities as restaurants, even if these facilities are operated 
by a third party under contract with the employer.More <a href="https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-tax-relief-for-businesses-and-tax-exempt-entities">information for businesses seeking coronavirus related tax relief</a> can be found at IRS.gov.

IRS: Business meals 100% deductible through 2022

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska says he believes he caught COVID-19 late last year, developing coronavirus symptoms and prompting him to wait at least three months to get vaccinated. 

Bacon says in a statement that he was exposed to an infected person and experienced symptoms, but never got tested. 

He says he’s expected to get a vaccine shot on Friday, and encouraged others to get one as well. 

Bacon’s congressional office reported on Dec. 2 that he had been exposed to the COVID-19 virus over the week of Thanksgiving and had gone into quarantine to comply with federal guidelines.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska says he believes he caught COVID-19 late last year, developing coronavirus symptoms and prompting him to wait at least three months to get vaccinated. Bacon says in a statement that he was exposed to an infected person and experienced symptoms, but never got tested. He says he’s expected to get a vaccine shot on Friday, and encouraged others to get one as well. Bacon’s congressional office reported on Dec. 2 that he had been exposed to the COVID-19 virus over the week of Thanksgiving and had gone into quarantine to comply with federal guidelines.

Nebraska US Rep. Bacon says he believes he had COVID-19

News Release US Attorney's Office-Omaha

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that a federal jury in Lincoln, Nebraska, returned a guilty verdict on April 7, 2021, against Thomas W. Hird, age 67, of Kearney, Nebraska, for three counts of filing a false tax return. The verdict subjects Hird to a potential prison term of up to three years on each count. Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard presided over the trial and set sentencing for July 14, 2021.

The evidence presented at trial established that Hird has owned and operated a nail salon business, Nails Unlimited, in Kearney, Nebraska since 2009. From around February of 2009, Hird would skim the cash and check payments of the business by cashing a majority of all customer checks received at the business and by conducting currency exchanges in which he would exchange small bills for $100 bills. Credit/Debit card transactions at the business would automatically be deposited into the business bank account, however, cash and check payments were rarely deposited into the business account. Hird willfully failed to report the cashed customer checks and currency received as part of his gross income on his yearly tax return.

The nail salon customers who testified at trial indicated that they were instructed to issue checks payable to Hird personally and not the business. The salon also had signs displayed that instructed customers to make checks payable to Hird. Hird testified at trial that he knew the bank had a policy against cashing checks made payable to his business.

The Internal Revenue Service began investigating Hird’s actions sometime in 2017. In July of 2017, an IRS Special Agent interviewed Hird about his nail salon business and about his practice of cashing customer checks and exchanging customer cash payments. Hird repeatedly denied he engaged in these transactions and claimed that all customer payments were deposited into the business bank account. At trial, Hird admitted he had lied to the Special Agent.

Through the years of 2012-2016, Hird failed to report income from Nails Unlimited in the amount of $520,107. As a result, Hird’s total tax due and owing for the years 2012-2016 is $134,989.

“A jury has now found Mr. Hird intentionally did not report all of his income when he filed his tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. He received checks and cash gross receipts while running a nail salon business for several years that he did not include income,” said David Talcott, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation division in the St. Louis Field Office. “Today, a jury has convicted Mr. Hird of filing false tax returns with the IRS.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Sharp said, “We are currently in tax season. The jury’s verdict underscores the importance of taxpayers to truthfully report income on their tax returns.”

News Release US Attorney's Office-OmahaActing United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that a federal jury in Lincoln, Nebraska, returned a guilty verdict on April 7, 2021, against Thomas W. Hird, age 67, of Kearney, Nebraska, for three counts of filing a false tax return. The verdict subjects Hird to a potential prison term of up to three years on each count. Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard presided over the trial and set sentencing for July 14, 2021.The evidence presented at trial established that Hird has owned and operated a nail salon business, Nails Unlimited, in Kearney, Nebraska since 2009. From around February of 2009, Hird would skim the cash and check payments of the business by cashing a majority of all customer checks received at the business and by conducting currency exchanges in which he would exchange small bills for $100 bills. Credit/Debit card transactions at the business would automatically be deposited into the business bank account, however, cash and check payments were rarely deposited into the business account. Hird willfully failed to report the cashed customer checks and currency received as part of his gross income on his yearly tax return.The nail salon customers who testified at trial indicated that they were instructed to issue checks payable to Hird personally and not the business. The salon also had signs displayed that instructed customers to make checks payable to Hird. Hird testified at trial that he knew the bank had a policy against cashing checks made payable to his business.The Internal Revenue Service began investigating Hird’s actions sometime in 2017. In July of 2017, an IRS Special Agent interviewed Hird about his nail salon business and about his practice of cashing customer checks and exchanging customer cash payments. Hird repeatedly denied he engaged in these transactions and claimed that all customer payments were deposited into the business bank account. At trial, Hird admitted he had lied to the Special Agent.Through the years of 2012-2016, Hird failed to report income from Nails Unlimited in the amount of $520,107. As a result, Hird’s total tax due and owing for the years 2012-2016 is $134,989.“A jury has now found Mr. Hird intentionally did not report all of his income when he filed his tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. He received checks and cash gross receipts while running a nail salon business for several years that he did not include income,” said David Talcott, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation division in the St. Louis Field Office. “Today, a jury has convicted Mr. Hird of filing false tax returns with the IRS.”Acting U.S. Attorney Sharp said, “We are currently in tax season. The jury’s verdict underscores the importance of taxpayers to truthfully report income on their tax returns.”

Kearney nail salon owner convicted by jury for filing false tax returns

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, in his first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/" target="_blank">gun control measures</a>&nbsp;since taking office, announced a half-dozen executive actions Thursday aimed at addressing a proliferation of gun violence across the nation that he called an “epidemic and an international embarrassment.”

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?510636-1/president-biden-delivers-remarks-gun-violence-prevention">Click here to watch </a>a replay of the President's announcement

<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/">Click here&nbsp;</a>to read the White House fact sheet on the actions to prevent gun violence.

“It is actually a public health crisis,” Biden said during remarks at the White House.

Greeting the families of gun violence victims and activists, he assured them: “We’re absolutely determined to make change.”

His Thursday announcement delivers on a pledge Biden made last month to take what he termed immediate “common-sense steps” to address gun violence, after a series of mass shootings drew renewed attention to the issue. His announcement came the same day as yet another shooting, this one in South Carolina, where five people were killed.

But Thursday’s announcement underscores the limitations of Biden’s executive power to act on guns. They include moves to tighten regulations on homemade guns and provide more resources for gun-violence prevention, but fall far short of the sweeping gun-control agenda Biden laid out on the campaign trail.

Indeed, the White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for legislative action to tackle the issue. But while the House passed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-shootings-legislation-gun-politics-bills-fbb6872ac0575551e2fc190f3aefbd73">background-check bill</a>&nbsp;last month, gun control measures face slim prospects in an evenly divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals.

Biden is tightening regulations of buyers of “ghost guns” — homemade firearms that usually are assembled from parts and milled with a metal-cutting machine and often lack serial numbers used to trace them. It’s legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop and there is no federal requirement for a background check. The goal is to “help stop the proliferation of these firearms,” according to the White House.

The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule aimed at reining in ghost guns within 30 days, though details of the rule weren’t immediately issued.

A second proposed rule, expected within 60 days, will tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces, like the one used by the Boulder, Colorado, shooter in a rampage last month that left 10 dead. The rule will designate pistols used with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles, which require a federal license to own and are subject to a more thorough application process and a $200 tax.

The department also is publishing model legislation within 60 days that is intended to make it easier for states to adopt their own “red flag” laws. Such laws allow for individuals to petition a court to allow the police to confiscate weapons from a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

The department also will begin to provide more data on firearms trafficking, starting with a new comprehensive report on the issue. The administration says that hasn’t been done in more than two decades.

Biden is also nominating David Chipman, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Biden administration will also make investments in community violence intervention programs, which are aimed at reducing gun violence in urban communities, across five federal agencies.

Officials said the executive actions were “initial steps” completed during Garland’s first weeks on the job and more may be coming.

The ATF is currently run by an acting director, Regina Lombardo. Gun-control advocates have emphasized the significance of this position in enforcing gun laws, and Chipman is certain to win praise from this group. During his time as a senior policy adviser with Giffords, he spent considerable effort pushing for greater regulation and enforcement on ghost guns, changes to the background check system and measures to reduce the trafficking of illegal firearms.

Chipman spent 25 years as an agent at the ATF, where he worked on stopping a trafficking ring that sent illegal firearms from Virginia to New York, and served on the ATF’s SWAT team. Chipman is a gun owner.

He is an explosives expert and was among the team involved in investigating the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center bombing. He also was involved in investigating a series of church bombings in Alabama in the 1990s. He retired from the ATF in 2012.

The White House fact sheet said Chipman has worked “to advance common-sense gun safety laws.”

During his campaign, Biden promised to prioritize new gun control measures as president, including enacting universal background check legislation, banning online sales of firearms and the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-gun-bills-background-checks-631ad363c97e5ff483f631713f92b1b8">gun-control advocates have said</a>&nbsp;that while they were heartened by signs from the White House that they took the issue seriously, they’ve been disappointed by the lack of early action.

With the announcement of the new measures, however, advocates lauded Biden’s first moves to combat gun violence.

“Each of these executive actions will start to address the epidemic of gun violence that has raged throughout the pandemic, and begin to make good on President Biden’s promise to be the strongest gun safety president in history,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Feinblatt in particular praised the move to regulate ghost guns, which he said “will undoubtedly save countless lives,” and lauded Chipman as an “invaluable point person” in the fight against illegal gun trafficking. He also said the group is looking forward to continuing to work with the Biden administration on further gun control measures, but it’s unclear what next moves the White House, or lawmakers on Capitol Hill, will be able to take.

Biden himself expressed uncertainty late last month when asked if he had the political capital to pass new gun control proposals, telling reporters, “I haven’t done any counting yet.”

For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade, military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns. Ghost guns have increasingly turned up at crime scenes and in recent years have been turning up more and more when federal agents are purchasing guns in undercover operations from gang members and other criminals.

It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t even contact the federal government about the guns because they can’t be traced.

Some states, like California, have enacted laws in recent years to require serial numbers be stamped on ghost guns.

The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.

A gunman who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdd2294957c49f1b730640758e41b54">killed his wife and four others</a>&nbsp;in Northern California in 2017 had been prohibited from owning firearms, but he built his own to skirt the court order before his rampage. And in 2019, a teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f56aedfde481467283dedb18a1c401fa">used a homemade handgun</a>&nbsp;to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, in his first major&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/" target="_blank">gun control measures</a>&nbsp;since taking office, is announcing executive actions aimed at addressing what the White House calls a “gun violence public health epidemic.”

Biden also is nominating&nbsp;<a href="https://giffords.org/people/david-chipman/" target="_blank">David Chipman</a>, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Biden has faced increasing pressure to act after a recent series of mass shootings, but the White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for legislative action. While the House passed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-shootings-legislation-gun-politics-bills-fbb6872ac0575551e2fc190f3aefbd73">background-check bill</a>&nbsp;last month, gun control measures face slim prospects in an evenly divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals.

A White House&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/" target="_blank">fact sheet</a>&nbsp;said those shootings “underscored the relentlessness” of the epidemic.

Biden is to be joined at the late morning Rose Garden event by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Most of the actions are coming from the Justice Department.

Biden also is making investments in community violence intervention programs, which are aimed at reducing gun violence in urban communities, across five federal agencies.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1617899711537.png" alt="President Biden was joined at the Rose Garden event by Vice President Harris and Attorney General Merrick Garland-image courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>President Biden was joined at the Rose Garden event by Vice President Harris and Attorney General Merrick Garland-image courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, in his first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/" target="_blank">gun control measures</a>&nbsp;since taking office, announced a half-dozen executive actions Thursday aimed at addressing a proliferation of gun violence across the nation that he called an “epidemic and an international embarrassment.”<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?510636-1/president-biden-delivers-remarks-gun-violence-prevention">Click here to watch </a>a replay of the President's announcement<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/">Click here&nbsp;</a>to read the White House fact sheet on the actions to prevent gun violence.“It is actually a public health crisis,” Biden said during remarks at the White House.Greeting the families of gun violence victims and activists, he assured them: “We’re absolutely determined to make change.”His Thursday announcement delivers on a pledge Biden made last month to take what he termed immediate “common-sense steps” to address gun violence, after a series of mass shootings drew renewed attention to the issue. His announcement came the same day as yet another shooting, this one in South Carolina, where five people were killed.But Thursday’s announcement underscores the limitations of Biden’s executive power to act on guns. They include moves to tighten regulations on homemade guns and provide more resources for gun-violence prevention, but fall far short of the sweeping gun-control agenda Biden laid out on the campaign trail.Indeed, the White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for legislative action to tackle the issue. But while the House passed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-shootings-legislation-gun-politics-bills-fbb6872ac0575551e2fc190f3aefbd73">background-check bill</a>&nbsp;last month, gun control measures face slim prospects in an evenly divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals.Biden is tightening regulations of buyers of “ghost guns” — homemade firearms that usually are assembled from parts and milled with a metal-cutting machine and often lack serial numbers used to trace them. It’s legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop and there is no federal requirement for a background check. The goal is to “help stop the proliferation of these firearms,” according to the White House.The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule aimed at reining in ghost guns within 30 days, though details of the rule weren’t immediately issued.A second proposed rule, expected within 60 days, will tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces, like the one used by the Boulder, Colorado, shooter in a rampage last month that left 10 dead. The rule will designate pistols used with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles, which require a federal license to own and are subject to a more thorough application process and a $200 tax.The department also is publishing model legislation within 60 days that is intended to make it easier for states to adopt their own “red flag” laws. Such laws allow for individuals to petition a court to allow the police to confiscate weapons from a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.The department also will begin to provide more data on firearms trafficking, starting with a new comprehensive report on the issue. The administration says that hasn’t been done in more than two decades.Biden is also nominating David Chipman, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.The Biden administration will also make investments in community violence intervention programs, which are aimed at reducing gun violence in urban communities, across five federal agencies.Officials said the executive actions were “initial steps” completed during Garland’s first weeks on the job and more may be coming.The ATF is currently run by an acting director, Regina Lombardo. Gun-control advocates have emphasized the significance of this position in enforcing gun laws, and Chipman is certain to win praise from this group. During his time as a senior policy adviser with Giffords, he spent considerable effort pushing for greater regulation and enforcement on ghost guns, changes to the background check system and measures to reduce the trafficking of illegal firearms.Chipman spent 25 years as an agent at the ATF, where he worked on stopping a trafficking ring that sent illegal firearms from Virginia to New York, and served on the ATF’s SWAT team. Chipman is a gun owner.He is an explosives expert and was among the team involved in investigating the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center bombing. He also was involved in investigating a series of church bombings in Alabama in the 1990s. He retired from the ATF in 2012.The White House fact sheet said Chipman has worked “to advance common-sense gun safety laws.”During his campaign, Biden promised to prioritize new gun control measures as president, including enacting universal background check legislation, banning online sales of firearms and the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-gun-bills-background-checks-631ad363c97e5ff483f631713f92b1b8">gun-control advocates have said</a>&nbsp;that while they were heartened by signs from the White House that they took the issue seriously, they’ve been disappointed by the lack of early action.With the announcement of the new measures, however, advocates lauded Biden’s first moves to combat gun violence.“Each of these executive actions will start to address the epidemic of gun violence that has raged throughout the pandemic, and begin to make good on President Biden’s promise to be the strongest gun safety president in history,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.Feinblatt in particular praised the move to regulate ghost guns, which he said “will undoubtedly save countless lives,” and lauded Chipman as an “invaluable point person” in the fight against illegal gun trafficking. He also said the group is looking forward to continuing to work with the Biden administration on further gun control measures, but it’s unclear what next moves the White House, or lawmakers on Capitol Hill, will be able to take.Biden himself expressed uncertainty late last month when asked if he had the political capital to pass new gun control proposals, telling reporters, “I haven’t done any counting yet.”For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade, military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns. Ghost guns have increasingly turned up at crime scenes and in recent years have been turning up more and more when federal agents are purchasing guns in undercover operations from gang members and other criminals.It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t even contact the federal government about the guns because they can’t be traced.Some states, like California, have enacted laws in recent years to require serial numbers be stamped on ghost guns.The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.A gunman who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdd2294957c49f1b730640758e41b54">killed his wife and four others</a>&nbsp;in Northern California in 2017 had been prohibited from owning firearms, but he built his own to skirt the court order before his rampage. And in 2019, a teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f56aedfde481467283dedb18a1c401fa">used a homemade handgun</a>&nbsp;to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles.------WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, in his first major&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/" target="_blank">gun control measures</a>&nbsp;since taking office, is announcing executive actions aimed at addressing what the White House calls a “gun violence public health epidemic.”<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KLLANPysHoc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Biden also is nominating&nbsp;<a href="https://giffords.org/people/david-chipman/" target="_blank">David Chipman</a>, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.Biden has faced increasing pressure to act after a recent series of mass shootings, but the White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for legislative action. While the House passed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-shootings-legislation-gun-politics-bills-fbb6872ac0575551e2fc190f3aefbd73">background-check bill</a>&nbsp;last month, gun control measures face slim prospects in an evenly divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals.A White House&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/" target="_blank">fact sheet</a>&nbsp;said those shootings “underscored the relentlessness” of the epidemic.Biden is to be joined at the late morning Rose Garden event by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Most of the actions are coming from the Justice Department.Biden is tightening regulations of buyers of “ghost guns” — homemade firearms that usually are assembled from parts and milled with a metal-cutting machine and often lack serial numbers used to trace them. It’s legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop and there is no federal requirement for a background check. The goal is to “help stop the proliferation of these firearms,” according to the White House.The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule aimed at reining in ghost guns within 30 days, though details of the rule weren’t immediately issued.A second proposed rule, expected within 60 days, will tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces, like the one used by the Boulder, Colorado, shooter in a rampage last month that left 10 dead. The rule will designate pistols used with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles, which require a federal license to own and are subject to a more thorough application process and a $200 tax.The department also is publishing model legislation within 60 days that is intended to make it easier for states to adopt their own “red flag” laws. Such laws allow for individuals to petition a court to allow the police to confiscate weapons from a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.The department also will begin to provide more data on firearms trafficking, starting with a new comprehensive report on the issue. The administration says that hasn’t been done in more than two decades.Biden also is making investments in community violence intervention programs, which are aimed at reducing gun violence in urban communities, across five federal agencies.Officials said the executive actions were “initial steps” completed during Garland’s first weeks on the job and more may be coming.The ATF is currently run by an acting director, Regina Lombardo. Gun-control advocates have emphasized the significance of this position in enforcing gun laws, and Chipman is certain to win praise from this group. During his time as a senior policy adviser with Giffords, he spent considerable effort pushing for greater regulation and enforcement on ghost guns, changes to the background check system and measures to reduce the trafficking of illegal firearms.Chipman spent 25 years as an agent at the ATF, where he worked on stopping a trafficking ring that sent illegal firearms from Virginia to New York, and served on the ATF’s SWAT team. Chipman is a gun owner.He is an explosives expert and was among the team involved in investigating the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center bombing. He also was involved in investigating a series of church bombings in Alabama in the 1990s. He retired from the ATF in 2012.The White House fact sheet said Chipman has worked “to advance common-sense gun safety laws.”During his campaign, Biden promised to prioritize new gun control measures as president, including enacting universal background check legislation, banning online sales of firearms and the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-gun-bills-background-checks-631ad363c97e5ff483f631713f92b1b8">gun-control advocates have said</a>&nbsp;that while they were heartened by signs from the White House that they took the issue seriously, they’ve been disappointed by the lack of early action.With the announcement of the new measures, however, advocates lauded Biden’s first moves to combat gun violence.“Each of these executive actions will start to address the epidemic of gun violence that has raged throughout the pandemic, and begin to make good on President Biden’s promise to be the strongest gun safety president in history,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.Feinblatt in particular praised the move to regulate ghost guns, which he said “will undoubtedly save countless lives,” and lauded Chipman as an “invaluable point person” in the fight against illegal gun trafficking. He also said the group is looking forward to continuing to work with the Biden administration on further gun control measures, but it’s unclear what next moves the White House, or lawmakers on Capitol Hill, will be able to take.Biden himself expressed uncertainty late last month when asked if he had the political capital to pass new gun control proposals, telling reporters, “I haven’t done any counting yet.”For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade, military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns. Ghost guns have increasingly turned up at crime scenes and in recent years have been turning up more and more when federal agents are purchasing guns in undercover operations from gang members and other criminals.It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t even contact the federal government about the guns because they can’t be traced.Some states, like California, have enacted laws in recent years to require serial numbers be stamped on ghost guns.The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.A gunman who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdd2294957c49f1b730640758e41b54">killed his wife and four others</a>&nbsp;in Northern California in 2017 had been prohibited from owning firearms, but he built his own to skirt the court order before his rampage. And in 2019, a teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f56aedfde481467283dedb18a1c401fa">used a homemade handgun</a>&nbsp;to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles.

🎥  President Biden announces executive actions on gun violence

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska colleges and universities are encouraging students to get vaccinated for the coronavirus, but they won’t require the shots before students return to campus in the fall. 

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Nebraska State College System and the state’s largest private colleges all said this week that they have no plans to require students or staff to get vaccinated.

 UNL spokeswoman Leslie Reed said the university believes the shots are a good idea but it won't mandate them. 

Several private schools, including Hastings College and Midland University, hosted vaccine clinics on their campuses Wednesday to make it easer for students to get their shots.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska colleges and universities are encouraging students to get vaccinated for the coronavirus, but they won’t require the shots before students return to campus in the fall. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Nebraska State College System and the state’s largest private colleges all said this week that they have no plans to require students or staff to get vaccinated. UNL spokeswoman Leslie Reed said the university believes the shots are a good idea but it won't mandate them. Several private schools, including Hastings College and Midland University, hosted vaccine clinics on their campuses Wednesday to make it easer for students to get their shots.

Nebraska colleges won't require students to get vaccinated

BLUE SPRINGS, Neb. (AP) — Officials in southeastern Nebraska say a child has died in an early-morning house fire that saw four other people taken to hospitals with burn injuries. 

Station KWBE reports that firefighters were called to the blaze around 4 a.m. Thursday in Blue Springs.

 Officials say the house was fully engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived. 

Beatrice Fire Captain Corey Lieneman said the child who died was found in a bedroom of the home. 

Lieneman says another person was taken to a Lincoln hospital with life-threatening burn injuries, while three others were taken to Beatrice Community Hospital in stable condition. 

Officials have not released the names of the victims.

BLUE SPRINGS, Neb. (AP) — Officials in southeastern Nebraska say a child has died in an early-morning house fire that saw four other people taken to hospitals with burn injuries. Station KWBE reports that firefighters were called to the blaze around 4 a.m. Thursday in Blue Springs. Officials say the house was fully engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived. Beatrice Fire Captain Corey Lieneman said the child who died was found in a bedroom of the home. Lieneman says another person was taken to a Lincoln hospital with life-threatening burn injuries, while three others were taken to Beatrice Community Hospital in stable condition. Officials have not released the names of the victims.

Officials: 1 killed, 4 burned in Blue Springs house fire

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Raul Valdez Rivas, 43, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for attempted enticement of a minor. The Honorable Brian C. Buescher sentenced Valdez Rivas to 120 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Valdez Rivas will be required to serve 5 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and is subject to deportation.

In April 2020, Valdez Rivas contacted the phone number listed in an online prostitution advertisement. Valdez Rivas communicated via text message and phone calls with a sheriff’s deputy posing as a fifteen-year-old boy. Valdez Rivas offered to pay the boy to engage in sexual acts with him and arranged a meeting. When Valdez Rivas arrived at the designated location, he was arrested.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit&nbsp;www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Raul Valdez Rivas, 43, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for attempted enticement of a minor. The Honorable Brian C. Buescher sentenced Valdez Rivas to 120 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Valdez Rivas will be required to serve 5 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and is subject to deportation.In April 2020, Valdez Rivas contacted the phone number listed in an online prostitution advertisement. Valdez Rivas communicated via text message and phone calls with a sheriff’s deputy posing as a fifteen-year-old boy. Valdez Rivas offered to pay the boy to engage in sexual acts with him and arranged a meeting. When Valdez Rivas arrived at the designated location, he was arrested.This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit&nbsp;www.projectsafechildhood.gov.This case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

Omaha man sentenced for attempted enticement of a minor

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is renewing her push for lawmakers to take up issues she feels were left unsettled during the regular legislative session, including banning transgender girls from girls’ sports. But lawmakers say they won't address it during a special session.

 The Republican governor’s office held a conference call Wednesday with legislative leaders to discuss calling a special session.

 It would also include discussions on how to spend over $1 billion that is flowing into the state from a federal COVID-19 rescue package and changes to a voter-passed medical marijuana bill set to go into effect July 1.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is renewing her push for lawmakers to take up issues she feels were left unsettled during the regular legislative session, including banning transgender girls from girls’ sports. But lawmakers say they won't address it during a special session. The Republican governor’s office held a conference call Wednesday with legislative leaders to discuss calling a special session. It would also include discussions on how to spend over $1 billion that is flowing into the state from a federal COVID-19 rescue package and changes to a voter-passed medical marijuana bill set to go into effect July 1.

Noem pitches transgender sports ban; lawmakers say not now

By BRENT MARTIN <a href="https://stjosephpost.com">St. Joseph Post</a>

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Restaurants and bars devastated by restrictions imposed during
the coronavirus pandemic will soon receive help from the federal government.

Eating and drinking establishments can apply for grants under
the new $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief and economic stimulus plan pushed by
President Joe Biden and approved by Congress.

Regional Director Rebecca Lobina with the Northwest Missouri
State University Small Business Development Center says the numbers presented to
the center by bars closed when governments worried they would spread COVID-19
are astonishing.

“Some of the percentages were, like, 4,000%,” Lobina says
during an appearance on the KFEQ Hotline. “Not 400; 4,000% on the decrease from
one year to the next. So, it was like a phenomenal amount of funding that they
lost.”

The federal program is not available yet, but Lobina suggests
restaurant and bar owners begin preparation now. Owners will need a Dun and
Bradstreet number and a SAM number from the Small Business Administration. The
grants will be based on gross receipts, comparing 2019 business to business in
2020.

Lobina says the federal grants could help many survive. Still,
Lobina says eating and drinking establishments learned a lot through the
pandemic, such as the importance of communication with customers, such as
informing customers of their hours or simple things such as how to order and
pick up curbside.

“They started learning, if they didn’t already know, they
learned quickly that you have to communicate that or your customers get
frustrated and leave.”

Lobina says the toll on some business owners has been devastating.

“People are crying on the phone,” Lobina recalls about owners
calling the Small Business Development Center. “People sound desperate, because
they are. Because things didn’t bounce back as quickly as people hoped that
they would, even when they were back open. It’s hard. It’s been really hard for
people and it continues to be hard for some.”

By BRENT MARTIN <a href="https://stjosephpost.com">St. Joseph Post</a>ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Restaurants and bars devastated by restrictions imposed during
the coronavirus pandemic will soon receive help from the federal government.Eating and drinking establishments can apply for grants under
the new $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief and economic stimulus plan pushed by
President Joe Biden and approved by Congress.Regional Director Rebecca Lobina with the Northwest Missouri
State University Small Business Development Center says the numbers presented to
the center by bars closed when governments worried they would spread COVID-19
are astonishing.“Some of the percentages were, like, 4,000%,” Lobina says
during an appearance on the KFEQ Hotline. “Not 400; 4,000% on the decrease from
one year to the next. So, it was like a phenomenal amount of funding that they
lost.”The federal program is not available yet, but Lobina suggests
restaurant and bar owners begin preparation now. Owners will need a Dun and
Bradstreet number and a SAM number from the Small Business Administration. The
grants will be based on gross receipts, comparing 2019 business to business in
2020.Lobina says the federal grants could help many survive. Still,
Lobina says eating and drinking establishments learned a lot through the
pandemic, such as the importance of communication with customers, such as
informing customers of their hours or simple things such as how to order and
pick up curbside.“They started learning, if they didn’t already know, they
learned quickly that you have to communicate that or your customers get
frustrated and leave.”Lobina says the toll on some business owners has been devastating.“People are crying on the phone,” Lobina recalls about owners
calling the Small Business Development Center. “People sound desperate, because
they are. Because things didn’t bounce back as quickly as people hoped that
they would, even when they were back open. It’s hard. It’s been really hard for
people and it continues to be hard for some.”

Restaurants, bars get federal relief in $1.9T coronavirus package

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A union complaint about whether an Oklahoma meatpacking plant is doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus could test the industry’s response to the pandemic because Seaboard Foods says it is following recommendations from the government and trade groups. 

The complaint offers regulators in the Biden administration an opportunity to say whether they believe the meatpacking industry is doing enough to protect workers because Seaboard officials said they have taken a number of steps similar to what other companies have done such as installing plastic barriers between work stations and checking employee temperatures at the door.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1591216124433.jpeg" alt=" A Walnut Valley Packing employee begins the process of turning a cow into a steak. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> A Walnut Valley Packing employee begins the process of turning a cow into a steak. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A union complaint about whether an Oklahoma meatpacking plant is doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus could test the industry’s response to the pandemic because Seaboard Foods says it is following recommendations from the government and trade groups. The complaint offers regulators in the Biden administration an opportunity to say whether they believe the meatpacking industry is doing enough to protect workers because Seaboard officials said they have taken a number of steps similar to what other companies have done such as installing plastic barriers between work stations and checking employee temperatures at the door.

Complaint may spur review of meat industry's virus response

WASHINGTON — A variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain is now the most common strain circulating in the United States.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, says the strain, formally known as B.1.1.7, is “now the most common lineage circulating in United States.”

The strain has been shown to be more transmissible and infectious among younger Americans, which Walensky says contributed to rising case counts in recent weeks.

Walensky says new outbreaks have been tied to youth sports and day care centers. She particularly encouraged states with rising caseloads to curtail or suspend youth sport activities to slow the spread of the virus.

The U.S. leads the world with 30.8 million confirmed cases and more than 556,000 confirmed deaths.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613699035300.png" alt="CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky " />
 <figcaption>CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky </figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON — A variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain is now the most common strain circulating in the United States.The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, says the strain, formally known as B.1.1.7, is “now the most common lineage circulating in United States.”The strain has been shown to be more transmissible and infectious among younger Americans, which Walensky says contributed to rising case counts in recent weeks.Walensky says new outbreaks have been tied to youth sports and day care centers. She particularly encouraged states with rising caseloads to curtail or suspend youth sport activities to slow the spread of the virus.The U.S. leads the world with 30.8 million confirmed cases and more than 556,000 confirmed deaths.___

UK virus variant now most common strain in United States

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Department of Health has announced multiple coronavirus variants were discovered in Wyoming over the past several months.

 The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported Tuesday that the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory recently analyzed genetic sequencing from multiple positive samples collected from residents since November and found at least 40 cases involved the variant found in the U.K., more than 40 cases combined involved two variants found in California and one case involved the variant found in South Africa. 

State Epidemiologist Dr. Alexia Harrist said residents should get the vaccine and continue following safety guidelines.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Department of Health has announced multiple coronavirus variants were discovered in Wyoming over the past several months. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported Tuesday that the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory recently analyzed genetic sequencing from multiple positive samples collected from residents since November and found at least 40 cases involved the variant found in the U.K., more than 40 cases combined involved two variants found in California and one case involved the variant found in South Africa. State Epidemiologist Dr. Alexia Harrist said residents should get the vaccine and continue following safety guidelines.

Multiple COVID-19 variants discovered in Wyoming

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say Tiger Woods was speeding when he crashed an SUV in Southern California less than two months ago, leaving him seriously injured.

(Click below to watch the LA County Sheriff's press conference)&nbsp;

The golf superstar was driving 84 to 87 mph on a downhill stretch of road outside Los Angeles that had a speed limit of 45 mph, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday.

The stretch of road is known for wrecks and drivers hitting speeds so high that there is an emergency exit for runaway vehicles just beyond where Woods crashed.

Villanueva blamed the Feb. 23 crash solely on excessive speed and Woods’ loss of control behind the wheel.

Detectives did not seek search warrants for the athlete’s blood samples, which could have been screened for drugs or alcohol. Investigators, however, did search the SUV’s data recorder, known as a black box, in the days after the crash.

Woods is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries.

Originally from the Los Angeles area, Woods had been back home in February to host his PGA tournament, the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.

He was driving an SUV loaned to him by the tournament when he struck a raised median. The SUV crossed through two oncoming lanes and uprooted a tree.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1614166677367.png" alt="The vehicle following the February 2021 rollover accident involving Tiger Woods in a suburb of Los Angeles. photos courtesy KTLA" />
 <figcaption>The vehicle following the February 2021 rollover accident involving Tiger Woods in a suburb of Los Angeles. photos courtesy KTLA</figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say Tiger Woods was speeding when he crashed an SUV in Southern California less than two months ago, leaving him seriously injured.(Click below to watch the LA County Sheriff's press conference)&nbsp;<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FLosAngelesCountySheriffsDepartment%2Fvideos%2F900067394110637%2F&show_text=false&width=560" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The golf superstar was driving 84 to 87 mph on a downhill stretch of road outside Los Angeles that had a speed limit of 45 mph, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday.The stretch of road is known for wrecks and drivers hitting speeds so high that there is an emergency exit for runaway vehicles just beyond where Woods crashed.Villanueva blamed the Feb. 23 crash solely on excessive speed and Woods’ loss of control behind the wheel.Detectives did not seek search warrants for the athlete’s blood samples, which could have been screened for drugs or alcohol. Investigators, however, did search the SUV’s data recorder, known as a black box, in the days after the crash.Woods is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries.Originally from the Los Angeles area, Woods had been back home in February to host his PGA tournament, the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1614112921996.png" alt="The sheriff blamed the Feb. 23 crash solely on excessive speed and Woods’ loss of control behind the wheel -photo courtesy KTLA" />
 <figcaption>The sheriff blamed the Feb. 23 crash solely on excessive speed and Woods’ loss of control behind the wheel -photo courtesy KTLA</figcaption>
 </figure>He was driving an SUV loaned to him by the tournament when he struck a raised median. The SUV crossed through two oncoming lanes and uprooted a tree.

🎥 Tiger Woods was going 83 in 45mph zone before crash

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Court fees that help pay for Nebraska judge retirement benefits could double from $6 to $12 by 2025 under a bill advanced by state lawmakers. 

Lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval with a 35-5 vote, despite criticism from some senators that the increase would disproportionately affect low-income people who become involved in the court system through criminal charges or lawsuits.

 The measure would gradually increase the fees each year to generate revenue for the slightly underfunded state retirement fund for judges.

 Two additional votes are required before the bill goes to Gov. Pete Ricketts.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Court fees that help pay for Nebraska judge retirement benefits could double from $6 to $12 by 2025 under a bill advanced by state lawmakers. Lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval with a 35-5 vote, despite criticism from some senators that the increase would disproportionately affect low-income people who become involved in the court system through criminal charges or lawsuits. The measure would gradually increase the fees each year to generate revenue for the slightly underfunded state retirement fund for judges. Two additional votes are required before the bill goes to Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Nebraska advances higher fees to fund judge retirements

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Omaha's current mayor, Republican Jean Stothert, appears likely to face Democratic challenger and commercial real estate broker RJ Neary in the May 11 general election for Omaha mayor.

Stothert held a commanding lead in the five-person primary election held Tuesday, with about 60% of the vote compared to Neary's distant second-place count of 15% by late Tuesday night, the Omaha World-Herald&nbsp;<a href="https://omaha.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/stothert-and-neary-appear-set-to-face-off-in-omaha-mayoral-race/article_8bb790aa-916c-11eb-841b-93a9d161c63b.html#tracking-source=home-top-story" target="_blank">reported</a>. The top two vote getters in Omaha's city primary elections move on the general election.

At least 12,000 absentee votes remained to be counted early Wednesday morning, and election officials have said they won't release those results until Friday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1617809865428.png" alt="Stothert" />
 <figcaption>Stothert</figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Omaha's current mayor, Republican Jean Stothert, appears likely to face Democratic challenger and commercial real estate broker RJ Neary in the May 11 general election for Omaha mayor.Stothert held a commanding lead in the five-person primary election held Tuesday, with about 60% of the vote compared to Neary's distant second-place count of 15% by late Tuesday night, the Omaha World-Herald&nbsp;<a href="https://omaha.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/stothert-and-neary-appear-set-to-face-off-in-omaha-mayoral-race/article_8bb790aa-916c-11eb-841b-93a9d161c63b.html#tracking-source=home-top-story" target="_blank">reported</a>. The top two vote getters in Omaha's city primary elections move on the general election.At least 12,000 absentee votes remained to be counted early Wednesday morning, and election officials have said they won't release those results until Friday.Stothert, 67, is seeking her third term as Omaha's mayor, saying she has helped make the city safer and managed the city's budget. The 68-year-old Neary, who is chairman of the commercial property firm Investors Realty, has campaigned on improving public infrastructure, spurring more affordable housing and improving equitable distribution of city services.Others who ran in the primary included include Jasmine Harris, who commands a background in public health, criminal justice reform and policy advocacy; Kimara Snipes, president of the South Omaha Neighborhood Alliance and an Omaha Public Schools Board member; and Mark Gudgel, an English teacher at North High School in Omaha.