DENVER (AP)—Boeing has recommended that airlines ground all of 777s with the type of engine that suffered a catastrophic failure over Denver this weekend, as U.S. regulators ordered United Airlines to step up inspections of those planes.

(Click below to hear some of the radio traffic and 911 calls police received Saturday during the plane incident over Broomfield, Colorado)

Several airlines, including United, said they were temporarily removing the aircraft from service after one of the American carrier’s planes made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport Saturday because its right engine blew apart just after takeoff. Pieces of the casing of the engine, a Pratt &amp; Whitney PW4000, rained down on suburban neighborhoods. None of the 231 passengers or 10 crew on board were hurt, and the plane landed safely, authorities said.

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement Sunday that based on an initial review of safety data, inspectors “concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes.”

Dickson said that would likely mean some planes would be grounded — and Boeing said they should be until the FAA sets up an inspection regime. Japan ordered the planes out of service, according to the financial newspaper Nikkei, while saying that an engine in the same family suffered trouble in December.

Boeing said there were 69 777s with the Pratt &amp; Whitney 4000-112 engines in service and another 59 in storage.

United is the only U.S. airline with the engine in its fleet, according to the FAA, and it had 24 of the planes in service. Two Japanese airlines have another 32 that are being pulled while Asiana Airlines grounded nine, seven of which were in service, until Boeing establishes a plan to fix the problems. Korean Air said it was discussing whether to ground 16 aircraft, six of which are in service.

“We are working with these regulators as they take actions while these planes are on the ground and further inspections are conducted by Pratt &amp; Whitney,” Boeing said in a statement issued Sunday, referring to American and Japanese regulators.

The engine maker said it was sending a team to work with investigators.

The emergency landing this past weekend is the latest trouble for Boeing, which saw its 737 Max planes grounded for more than a year after two deadly crashes in 2019. The planes began returning to the skies late last year — a huge boost for the aircraft maker, which lost billions during the Max grounding because it has been unable to deliver new planes to customers.

Video posted on Twitter from Saturday’s emergency showed the engine fully engulfed in flames as the plane flew through the air. Freeze frames from different video taken by a passenger sitting slightly in front of the engine and also posted on Twitter appeared to show a broken fan blade in the engine.

Passengers, who were heading to Honolulu, said they feared the plane would crash after an explosion and flash of light, while people on the ground saw huge chunks of the aircraft pour down, just missing one home and crushing a truck. The explosion, visible from the ground, left a trail of black smoke in the sky.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that two of the engine’s fan blades were fractured and the remainder of the fan blades “exhibited damage.” But it cautioned that it was too early to draw conclusions about what happened.

United says it will work closely with the FAA and the NTSB “to determine any additional steps that are needed to ensure these aircraft meet our rigorous safety standards and can return to service.”

The NTSB said the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were transported to its lab in Washington so the data can be analyzed. NTSB investigations can take up to a year or longer, although in major cases the agency generally releases some investigative material midway through the process.

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said an engine in the PW4000 family suffered trouble on a Japan Airlines 777 flying to Tokyo from Naha on Dec. 4. The airline has said the plane had engine trouble after takeoff and returned to Naha. An inspection showed damage to the engine case and missing fan blades, according to the airline. Stricter inspections were ordered in response.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways will stop operating a combined 32 planes with that engine, Nikkei reported. ___

This story has been updated to correct the name of one of the Japanese airlines mentioned. It is Japan Airlines, not Japan Airways.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1614000152481.png" alt="Debris from a United Airlines 777 in the. yard of a home north of Denver-photo courtesy Broomfield Police" />
 <figcaption>Debris from a United Airlines 777 in the. yard of a home north of Denver-photo courtesy Broomfield Police</figcaption>
 </figure>DENVER (AP)—Boeing has recommended that airlines ground all of 777s with the type of engine that suffered a catastrophic failure over Denver this weekend, as U.S. regulators ordered United Airlines to step up inspections of those planes.(Click below to hear some of the radio traffic and 911 calls police received Saturday during the plane incident over Broomfield, Colorado)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LUZIjWG69xI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Several airlines, including United, said they were temporarily removing the aircraft from service after one of the American carrier’s planes made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport Saturday because its right engine blew apart just after takeoff. Pieces of the casing of the engine, a Pratt &amp; Whitney PW4000, rained down on suburban neighborhoods. None of the 231 passengers or 10 crew on board were hurt, and the plane landed safely, authorities said.U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement Sunday that based on an initial review of safety data, inspectors “concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes.”Dickson said that would likely mean some planes would be grounded — and Boeing said they should be until the FAA sets up an inspection regime. Japan ordered the planes out of service, according to the financial newspaper Nikkei, while saying that an engine in the same family suffered trouble in December.Boeing said there were 69 777s with the Pratt &amp; Whitney 4000-112 engines in service and another 59 in storage.United is the only U.S. airline with the engine in its fleet, according to the FAA, and it had 24 of the planes in service. Two Japanese airlines have another 32 that are being pulled while Asiana Airlines grounded nine, seven of which were in service, until Boeing establishes a plan to fix the problems. Korean Air said it was discussing whether to ground 16 aircraft, six of which are in service.“We are working with these regulators as they take actions while these planes are on the ground and further inspections are conducted by Pratt &amp; Whitney,” Boeing said in a statement issued Sunday, referring to American and Japanese regulators.The engine maker said it was sending a team to work with investigators.The emergency landing this past weekend is the latest trouble for Boeing, which saw its 737 Max planes grounded for more than a year after two deadly crashes in 2019. The planes began returning to the skies late last year — a huge boost for the aircraft maker, which lost billions during the Max grounding because it has been unable to deliver new planes to customers.Video posted on Twitter from Saturday’s emergency showed the engine fully engulfed in flames as the plane flew through the air. Freeze frames from different video taken by a passenger sitting slightly in front of the engine and also posted on Twitter appeared to show a broken fan blade in the engine.Passengers, who were heading to Honolulu, said they feared the plane would crash after an explosion and flash of light, while people on the ground saw huge chunks of the aircraft pour down, just missing one home and crushing a truck. The explosion, visible from the ground, left a trail of black smoke in the sky.The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that two of the engine’s fan blades were fractured and the remainder of the fan blades “exhibited damage.” But it cautioned that it was too early to draw conclusions about what happened.United says it will work closely with the FAA and the NTSB “to determine any additional steps that are needed to ensure these aircraft meet our rigorous safety standards and can return to service.”The NTSB said the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were transported to its lab in Washington so the data can be analyzed. NTSB investigations can take up to a year or longer, although in major cases the agency generally releases some investigative material midway through the process.Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said an engine in the PW4000 family suffered trouble on a Japan Airlines 777 flying to Tokyo from Naha on Dec. 4. The airline has said the plane had engine trouble after takeoff and returned to Naha. An inspection showed damage to the engine case and missing fan blades, according to the airline. Stricter inspections were ordered in response.Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways will stop operating a combined 32 planes with that engine, Nikkei reported. ___This story has been updated to correct the name of one of the Japanese airlines mentioned. It is Japan Airlines, not Japan Airways.

🎤 Boeing will ground 777s after debris rained on Denver suburb

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A woman was killed and a man was critically wounded Saturday during a shootout with police in Lincoln. 

Before the shooting, a robbery was reported in the parking lot of a Lincoln hotel around 8:30 a.m. Saturday. 

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said a Nebraska state trooper spotted the suspect’s vehicle after the victim's credit card was used.

 During the chase, the man fired at officers. Once the suspect's vehicle was stopped, officers exchanged gunfire with them and wounded the man and woman. 

The woman died and the man remains hospitalized.

 A state trooper who was injured during the chase was treated at a hospital and released.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A woman was killed and a man was critically wounded Saturday during a shootout with police in Lincoln. Before the shooting, a robbery was reported in the parking lot of a Lincoln hotel around 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said a Nebraska state trooper spotted the suspect’s vehicle after the victim's credit card was used. During the chase, the man fired at officers. Once the suspect's vehicle was stopped, officers exchanged gunfire with them and wounded the man and woman. The woman died and the man remains hospitalized. A state trooper who was injured during the chase was treated at a hospital and released.

Woman dies, man wounded in shootout with police in Lincoln

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is reminding those with 
income from a farming or fishing business can avoid making any estimated
 tax payments by filing and paying their entire tax due on or before 
March 1.

This rule generally applies if farming or fishing income was at least
 two-thirds of the taxpayer's total gross income in either the current 
or the preceding tax year. Those who choose not to file by March 1 
should have made an estimated tax payment by Jan. 15 to avoid an 
estimated tax penalty. For more information on estimated tax, refer to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505">Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax</a>.

Those in the farming business report income and expenses on <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-f-form-1040">Schedule F (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Farming</a>. They also use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-se-form-1040">Schedule SE (Form 1040), Self-Employment Tax</a> to figure self-employment tax if their net earnings from farming are $400 or more. For more information refer to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc554">Topic No. 554</a>, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p225">Publication 225, Farmer's Tax Guide</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/agriculture-tax-center">Agriculture Tax Center</a>.

Those in the fishing business report income and expenses on <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-c-form-1040">Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (Sole Proprietorship)</a>. They also use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-se-form-1040">Schedule SE (Form 1040)</a>
 to figure self-employment tax if their net earnings from fishing are 
$400 or more. For general information about the rules applying to 
individuals, including commercial fishermen who file Schedule C, refer 
to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p334">Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business</a>.

Those whose trade or business is a partnership or corporation see <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p541">Publication 541, Partnerships</a> or <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p542">Publication 542, Corporations</a>.

IRS <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay">Direct Pay</a>
 is a free online service where people can make same day payments or 
schedule them up to 365 days in advance directly from a checking or 
savings account. There are no IRS fees and no pre-registration. IRS 
Direct Pay is available seven days a week, and users receive instant 
confirmation after they submit a payment or they can opt-in to receive 
email notifications.

IRS Direct Pay cannot be used to pay the federal highway use tax, 
payroll taxes or other business taxes. Anyone wishing to pay these 
business taxes electronically can enroll in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/eftps-the-electronic-federal-tax-payment-system">Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)</a>. EFTPS is also a free service.

For more information about these and other payment options visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">IRS.gov/payments</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is reminding those with 
income from a farming or fishing business can avoid making any estimated
 tax payments by filing and paying their entire tax due on or before 
March 1.This rule generally applies if farming or fishing income was at least
 two-thirds of the taxpayer's total gross income in either the current 
or the preceding tax year. Those who choose not to file by March 1 
should have made an estimated tax payment by Jan. 15 to avoid an 
estimated tax penalty. For more information on estimated tax, refer to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505">Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax</a>.Those in the farming business report income and expenses on <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-f-form-1040">Schedule F (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Farming</a>. They also use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-se-form-1040">Schedule SE (Form 1040), Self-Employment Tax</a> to figure self-employment tax if their net earnings from farming are $400 or more. For more information refer to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc554">Topic No. 554</a>, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p225">Publication 225, Farmer's Tax Guide</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/agriculture-tax-center">Agriculture Tax Center</a>.Those in the fishing business report income and expenses on <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-c-form-1040">Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (Sole Proprietorship)</a>. They also use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-se-form-1040">Schedule SE (Form 1040)</a>
 to figure self-employment tax if their net earnings from fishing are 
$400 or more. For general information about the rules applying to 
individuals, including commercial fishermen who file Schedule C, refer 
to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p334">Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business</a>.Those whose trade or business is a partnership or corporation see <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p541">Publication 541, Partnerships</a> or <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p542">Publication 542, Corporations</a>.<h2>IRS Direct Pay is safe, fast and free</h2>IRS <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay">Direct Pay</a>
 is a free online service where people can make same day payments or 
schedule them up to 365 days in advance directly from a checking or 
savings account. There are no IRS fees and no pre-registration. IRS 
Direct Pay is available seven days a week, and users receive instant 
confirmation after they submit a payment or they can opt-in to receive 
email notifications.IRS Direct Pay cannot be used to pay the federal highway use tax, 
payroll taxes or other business taxes. Anyone wishing to pay these 
business taxes electronically can enroll in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/eftps-the-electronic-federal-tax-payment-system">Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)</a>. EFTPS is also a free service.For more information about these and other payment options visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">IRS.gov/payments</a>.

IRS reminds farmers and fishers of March 1 tax deadline

KANSAS CITY (AP) — When massive demonstrations against racial injustice erupted across the nation last summer, protesters used an increasingly common tactic to draw attention to their cause: swarming out onto major roads to temporarily paralyze traffic.

This method sometimes resulted in searing images of drivers plowing through crowds, causing serious injuries and in some cases, deaths.

Now, Republican politicians across the country are moving to stop the road-blocking maneuver, proposing increased penalties for demonstrators who run onto highways and legal immunity for drivers who hit them. The bills are among dozens introduced in Legislatures aimed at cracking down on demonstrations.

“It’s not going to be a peaceful protest if you’re impeding the freedom of others,” said Rep. Kevin McDugle, the author of an Oklahoma bill granting criminal and civil immunity to people who drive into crowds on roads. “The driver of that truck had his family in there, and they were scared to death."

He referred to an incident in July in which a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer drove through Black Lives Matter protesters on Interstate 244 in Tulsa. Three people were seriously injured, including a 33-year-old man who fell from an overpass and was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Tumultuous demonstrations by left-leaning and right-leaning groups have stirred new debate about what tactics are acceptable free speech and which go too far. In addition to blocking roads, Black Lives Matter demonstrators have taken over parks and painted slogans on streets and structures, while right-wing groups have brandished firearms and stormed capitol buildings. Local authorities' responses have wavered as they try to avoid escalating conflicts.

Now legislators in Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah and about a dozen other states have introduced new counterprotest measures.

The traffic-blocking tactic has attracted the most concern because of the obvious hazard.

In one&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMhbUTQjfR8">particularly chilling incident</a>&nbsp;in Minneapolis, a large tanker truck drove at high speed through thousands of protesters gathered on a closed highway. Remarkably, no one was seriously hurt, though a criminal complaint says at least one protester suffered abrasions.

Mark Faulk, a longtime Oklahoma activist who was arrested last year for blocking a roadway, said dramatic tactics are necessary to get people's attention.

“The idea of escalating it to the point where you disrupt the convenience of the citizens and of the status quo, you have to do that sometimes to make a point," Faulk said.

But Carmyn Taylor, 20, recalled the sight of a pickup truck bearing down on protesters spread across the six-lane I-244 in Tulsa.

“The most vivid thing I remember is when I got pulled to the ground. I remember seeing both sets of wheels run over my legs, which was a little traumatizing," said Taylor, who suffered a broken leg and a sprained ankle. “For the first two weeks after the accident, I couldn't walk."

In Seattle, Summer Taylor, 24, was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ff3c4fb3a627d694b5d888dcd48c89b0">killed and another person was seriously injured</a>&nbsp;in July when a man drove his car into protestors on a closed Seattle freeway. A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2dfCHZ1FQg">graphic video</a>&nbsp;posted on social media showed the car swerving around several parked cars and slamming into the two protesters, sending them flying into the air.

In an incident in St. Louis in May, a 29-year-old man was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/261c0a07eb120c6ee7fe8890b069b3f0">dragged to his death</a>&nbsp;beneath a tractor-trailer that drove into a sign-carrying group on a road.

Whether drivers face criminal charges in such incidents depends on the circumstances of each case, prosecutors say. The tractor-trailer driver in St. Louis has not been criminally charged, while the driver of the car in Seattle has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/127e17d72b0bd1cbb137ed28a9604e2f">pleaded not guilty</a>&nbsp;to charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving.

District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler declined to file charges against the driver in Tulsa, saying several people in the crowd had attacked the vehicle with the driver’s children inside. But Kunzweiler stopped short of endorsing proposals for harsher penalties for protestors or blanket immunity for drivers.

“There are any number of laws already in place that are readily available to be enforced,” he said.

A bill granting drivers immunity for hitting protestors easily cleared an Oklahoma Senate committee recently on a 8-1 vote. Two others are pending in the state House.

But critics say the proposals are only designed to intimidate people, not to solve a problem.

“The biggest concern is that they chill speech and they chill folks gathering to protest,” said Nicole McAfee, policy director for the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

About 50 people were arrested during several days of protests in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and rioting, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. At least two men accused of burning a sheriff's van were charged under the state's anti-terrorism law, a felony that carries a sentence of up to life in prison. Those cases are pending.

Proposals in Oklahoma would increase the criminal penalties for blocking a roadway, including one making it a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, and making it more difficult for those arrested to be released from jail. Another bill would add participating in unlawful assemblies to the state's racketeering act aimed at organized crime.

State Rep. Emily Virgin, the Democratic leader in the Oklahoma House, said she wishes her Republican colleagues would focus on the underlying issues of police brutality and systemic racism instead of seeking ways to punish protesters.

“It seems that some of my colleagues took the wrong lesson from the demonstrations we saw this summer,” Virgin said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1590799948580.png" alt="June protests in Kansas City photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>June protests in Kansas City photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — When massive demonstrations against racial injustice erupted across the nation last summer, protesters used an increasingly common tactic to draw attention to their cause: swarming out onto major roads to temporarily paralyze traffic.This method sometimes resulted in searing images of drivers plowing through crowds, causing serious injuries and in some cases, deaths.Now, Republican politicians across the country are moving to stop the road-blocking maneuver, proposing increased penalties for demonstrators who run onto highways and legal immunity for drivers who hit them. The bills are among dozens introduced in Legislatures aimed at cracking down on demonstrations.“It’s not going to be a peaceful protest if you’re impeding the freedom of others,” said Rep. Kevin McDugle, the author of an Oklahoma bill granting criminal and civil immunity to people who drive into crowds on roads. “The driver of that truck had his family in there, and they were scared to death."He referred to an incident in July in which a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer drove through Black Lives Matter protesters on Interstate 244 in Tulsa. Three people were seriously injured, including a 33-year-old man who fell from an overpass and was left paralyzed from the waist down.Tumultuous demonstrations by left-leaning and right-leaning groups have stirred new debate about what tactics are acceptable free speech and which go too far. In addition to blocking roads, Black Lives Matter demonstrators have taken over parks and painted slogans on streets and structures, while right-wing groups have brandished firearms and stormed capitol buildings. Local authorities' responses have wavered as they try to avoid escalating conflicts.Now legislators in Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah and about a dozen other states have introduced new counterprotest measures.The traffic-blocking tactic has attracted the most concern because of the obvious hazard.In one&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMhbUTQjfR8">particularly chilling incident</a>&nbsp;in Minneapolis, a large tanker truck drove at high speed through thousands of protesters gathered on a closed highway. Remarkably, no one was seriously hurt, though a criminal complaint says at least one protester suffered abrasions.Mark Faulk, a longtime Oklahoma activist who was arrested last year for blocking a roadway, said dramatic tactics are necessary to get people's attention.“The idea of escalating it to the point where you disrupt the convenience of the citizens and of the status quo, you have to do that sometimes to make a point," Faulk said.But Carmyn Taylor, 20, recalled the sight of a pickup truck bearing down on protesters spread across the six-lane I-244 in Tulsa.“The most vivid thing I remember is when I got pulled to the ground. I remember seeing both sets of wheels run over my legs, which was a little traumatizing," said Taylor, who suffered a broken leg and a sprained ankle. “For the first two weeks after the accident, I couldn't walk."In Seattle, Summer Taylor, 24, was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ff3c4fb3a627d694b5d888dcd48c89b0">killed and another person was seriously injured</a>&nbsp;in July when a man drove his car into protestors on a closed Seattle freeway. A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2dfCHZ1FQg">graphic video</a>&nbsp;posted on social media showed the car swerving around several parked cars and slamming into the two protesters, sending them flying into the air.In an incident in St. Louis in May, a 29-year-old man was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/261c0a07eb120c6ee7fe8890b069b3f0">dragged to his death</a>&nbsp;beneath a tractor-trailer that drove into a sign-carrying group on a road.Whether drivers face criminal charges in such incidents depends on the circumstances of each case, prosecutors say. The tractor-trailer driver in St. Louis has not been criminally charged, while the driver of the car in Seattle has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/127e17d72b0bd1cbb137ed28a9604e2f">pleaded not guilty</a>&nbsp;to charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving.District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler declined to file charges against the driver in Tulsa, saying several people in the crowd had attacked the vehicle with the driver’s children inside. But Kunzweiler stopped short of endorsing proposals for harsher penalties for protestors or blanket immunity for drivers.“There are any number of laws already in place that are readily available to be enforced,” he said.A bill granting drivers immunity for hitting protestors easily cleared an Oklahoma Senate committee recently on a 8-1 vote. Two others are pending in the state House.But critics say the proposals are only designed to intimidate people, not to solve a problem.“The biggest concern is that they chill speech and they chill folks gathering to protest,” said Nicole McAfee, policy director for the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.About 50 people were arrested during several days of protests in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and rioting, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. At least two men accused of burning a sheriff's van were charged under the state's anti-terrorism law, a felony that carries a sentence of up to life in prison. Those cases are pending.Proposals in Oklahoma would increase the criminal penalties for blocking a roadway, including one making it a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, and making it more difficult for those arrested to be released from jail. Another bill would add participating in unlawful assemblies to the state's racketeering act aimed at organized crime.State Rep. Emily Virgin, the Democratic leader in the Oklahoma House, said she wishes her Republican colleagues would focus on the underlying issues of police brutality and systemic racism instead of seeking ways to punish protesters.“It seems that some of my colleagues took the wrong lesson from the demonstrations we saw this summer,” Virgin said.

New legislation would protect drivers who hit protestors

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago. 

The slinky predator named Elizabeth Ann was born in a Colorado facility Dec. 10 and announced Thursday. 

Elizabeth Ann is a genetic copy of a ferret named Willa who died in 1988 and whose remains were frozen in the early days of DNA technology. 

The technique holds promise for boosting endangered species including a cloned Mongolian wild horse born at a Texas facility last summer.

 Viagen, a company that clones horses and pet dogs and cats, cloned both animals.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago. The slinky predator named Elizabeth Ann was born in a Colorado facility Dec. 10 and announced Thursday. Elizabeth Ann is a genetic copy of a ferret named Willa who died in 1988 and whose remains were frozen in the early days of DNA technology. The technique holds promise for boosting endangered species including a cloned Mongolian wild horse born at a Texas facility last summer. Viagen, a company that clones horses and pet dogs and cats, cloned both animals.

1st clone of US endangered species, a ferret, announced

WAGNER, S.D. (AP) - Authorities have released the names of four people who were killed earlier this week in a two-vehicle crash in southern South Dakota.

The Highway Patrol identified the victims has 64-year-old Lynette Ashes, of Wagner; 31-year-old Agnes Drapeaux, of Mitchell; 28-year-old Michaela Rainbow, of Lake Andes; and 33-year-old Milton LaRose, of Omaha, Nebraska.

The patrol said the crash happened about 6 p.m. Tuesday near Wagner when a 2003 Chrysler Sebring driven by Drapeaux failed to stop at an intersection and collided with a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Ashes. The car subsequently plunged into a ditch where it caught fire, authorities said.

Ashes was the lone occupant of the SUV. There were four passengers in the car, including one man, 27-year-old Lawrence Thunder Horse, of Lake Andes, who suffered serious non-life threatening injuries.

The patrol said none of people involved in the crash appeared to have been wearing seat belts.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/6/1559617385052.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WAGNER, S.D. (AP) - Authorities have released the names of four people who were killed earlier this week in a two-vehicle crash in southern South Dakota.The Highway Patrol identified the victims has 64-year-old Lynette Ashes, of Wagner; 31-year-old Agnes Drapeaux, of Mitchell; 28-year-old Michaela Rainbow, of Lake Andes; and 33-year-old Milton LaRose, of Omaha, Nebraska.The patrol said the crash happened about 6 p.m. Tuesday near Wagner when a 2003 Chrysler Sebring driven by Drapeaux failed to stop at an intersection and collided with a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Ashes. The car subsequently plunged into a ditch where it caught fire, authorities said.Ashes was the lone occupant of the SUV. There were four passengers in the car, including one man, 27-year-old Lawrence Thunder Horse, of Lake Andes, who suffered serious non-life threatening injuries.The patrol said none of people involved in the crash appeared to have been wearing seat belts.

Patrol names victims of South Dakota crash that killed 4

BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in a 2012 Butte County case that was solved using forensic genealogy. 

Thirty-four-year-old Shane Boice pleaded guilty to second-degree rape as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. 

Two burglary counts were dropped as part of the agreement.

 Police tested DNA obtained from the crime scene at the time but found no match within DNA databases. 

The police department and South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation continued to investigate the case and in 2018 decided to send a DNA sample to a genetic genealogy company and that eventually led them to Boice.

BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in a 2012 Butte County case that was solved using forensic genealogy. Thirty-four-year-old Shane Boice pleaded guilty to second-degree rape as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Two burglary counts were dropped as part of the agreement. Police tested DNA obtained from the crime scene at the time but found no match within DNA databases. The police department and South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation continued to investigate the case and in 2018 decided to send a DNA sample to a genetic genealogy company and that eventually led them to Boice.

45 years in prison for assault case solved with genealogy

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-02-18/kansas-meatpacking-workers-faced-outbreak-after-outbreak-but-still-cant-get-a-covid-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>

Thousands of meatpacking workers in southwest Kansas continue to wait for any news about when they’ll get the COVID-19 vaccine.

That
 wait drags on even as some counties vaccinate college faculty, first 
responders and postal workers, and as Kansas launches a new program to 
get a first dose into the arm of every school worker by early April.

Meatpacking
 plants have been the state’s third-biggest source of coronavirus 
outbreaks, eclipsed only by long-term care facilities (such as nursing 
homes) and jails and prisons.

“Meatpacking workers have taken one 
of the hardest hits of this pandemic,” said Monica Vargas-Huertas, a 
political director for the United Food and Commercial Workers 
International Union Local 2 representing 7,000 meatpacking workers in 
two southwest Kansas counties. “They have been in the front lines from 
Day One.”

The factory-scale slaughterhouses stayed open when many other businesses closed under <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-03-28/kansas-governor-issues-a-statewide-stay-at-home-order-which-starts-monday" target="_blank">statewide stay-at-home</a> orders last spring.

“They kept working, securing the food (supply),” Vargas-Huertas said, “and securing the economy of the state.”

But
 state officials say meatpacking facilities took steps that greatly 
reduced transmission within their walls. In the past two weeks, they 
say, the plants have seen no fresh coronavirus outbreaks involving five 
or more cases.

And Kansas simply doesn’t receive enough vaccines 
per week from the federal government to quickly vaccinate all essential 
workers.

Ashley Goss, deputy secretary for public health, says 
Gov. Laura Kelly wants to get children back to school as soon as 
possible because missing so much in-person contact with peers and 
educators can have long-term effects on learning and mental health.

“She’s
 had to make some really tough decisions,” Goss said. “And she feels 
very strongly for our school staff to be the next push.”

Kansas 
was receiving fewer than 100,000 doses a week from the federal 
government, though shipments should soon increase to about 115,000 a 
week.

To speed shots to school workers, Kansas is redirecting some
 doses from counties that have made more progress than others on 
vaccinating their residents.

For now, it will not do the same for meatpacking workers.

Kansas
 has some of the country’s most productive beef-packing plants. The 
industry drives the economies of Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal.

The meatpacking workers are largely immigrants and people of color. <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/early-state-vaccination-data-raise-warning-flags-racial-equity/" target="_blank">Mounting evidence</a> from other states suggests people of color across the country aren’t receiving equitable access to the coronavirus vaccine.

Kansas will soon publish vaccination statistics that shed light on whether that holds true here, too.

The state’s figures on known COVID cases already show Hispanic people <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">significantly more likely</a> to catch the virus than non-Hispanic people.

Nearly 4,000 known cases of COVID-19 and two dozen deaths link directly to the slaughterhouses in Kansas.

Infections
 related to the plants continue to have serious ripple effects. Five 
ongoing outbreaks linked to the plants have led to nearly 1,800 known 
cases in their communities and 14 deaths.

<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-u-s-is-underestimating-covid-reinfection/" target="_blank">Scientists remain uncertain</a> how long a survivor enjoys immunity before catching the illness again, meaning workers fear re-infection.

“We want to prevent a new wave,” Vargas-Huertas said. “We cannot wait four or five months.”

Meatpacking
 workers fall into Phase 2 of the state’s vaccine rollout plan. (Phase 1
 focused on health care workers and nursing homes.)

But Phase 2 is
 a bucket so massive that it includes about 1 million people, or a third
 of the state’s population. It covers everyone over the age of 65 and a 
wide variety of other groups, such as teachers, police and grocery 
clerks.

The state largely lets each county make its own decisions on how to prioritize within that bucket.

“We’ve
 tried to stick with public health being decentralized in our state,” 
Goss said. “Local health authorities have the ability to decide.”

This week the governor’s office announced one exception: It will start earmarking doses each week for school workers.

But meatpackers in Seward, Ford and Finney counties remain unclear when their turn will come.

UFCW
 International Local 2 represents workers at plants in Seward and Ford 
counties and communicates regularly with other workers in Finney County.

It says workers haven’t been able to get shots unless they qualify based on reasons other than their jobs.

“Only
 those workers over 65 years old have received a vaccine or an 
appointment,” Vargas-Huertas said. “The rest of the workers, they 
haven’t even received an appointment.”

The sites are eagerly 
preparing, she said. Health care workers employed by the plants have 
already gathered information from employees to prioritize which ones 
face the greatest health risks and should get the shots first when they 
become available.

State health officials say plants have applied 
to give the vaccine on site, so eventually Kansas will send doses to 
them directly.

Only, Kansas can’t get its hands on enough doses 
yet to make that happen, Goss said, despite pleading with every federal 
agency it can think of.

“Oh my gosh,” Goss said. “I’ve told anyone
 who will listen. … Anyone who has an ear in the federal government or 
is part of it. We tell them if there’s anyone’s vaccine (who) can’t use 
it, doesn’t want it, that you just want to give us — we’ll take it. 
We’re more than happy to beg and borrow.”

Early
 in the pandemic, some meatpacking workers said their plants should 
close for deep cleaning when coronavirus began spreading on the 
slaughterhouse floors. At <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">least one county medical officer agreed</a>.

The
 companies opposed closure, and National Beef urged the Kelly 
administration to make clear to meatpacking workers — many of whom were 
fearful of continuing to show up for work in buildings where the disease
 was spreading — that they have a “special responsibility” to do their 
jobs.

State officials said they could close the plants if 
necessary, but wanted to avoid that and require changes within the 
buildings to promote safety instead.

The Kelly and <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/emails-show-the-meatpacking-industry-drafted-an-executive-order-to-keep-plants-open" target="_blank">Trump</a> administrations threw their weight behind ramping up COVID-19 testing for meatpacking plants to keep the facilities open. <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">The state said</a> workers with known COVID-19 exposure could keep going to work unless they showed symptoms.

But inside the plants, true <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-05-04/despite-meatpacking-plants-efforts-kansas-workers-say-were-right-next-to-each-other" target="_blank">social distancing is impossible</a>, the union says, and plexiglass and face masks can only do so much.

Public
 announcements on the Facebook pages and websites of Seward, Finney and 
Ford counties and a southwest Kansas clinic that has helped with 
outreach and giving shots don’t say when meatpacking workers will get 
their doses.

Nor have workers been able to find that out from the state health department.

By late January, Finney County was vaccinating people over the age of 65, police officers, firefighters and clergy.

Day care workers, UPS, FedEx and postal workers, city employees and taxi drivers were among those who became eligible next.

This week, community college faculty and school employees also get their turn.

The
 most recent update on the Seward County Facebook page, meanwhile, says 
the county is scheduling people over the age of 90 or in critical 
functions, but doesn’t elaborate on the latter category.

The 
Kansas News Service has reached out to Finney, Seward and Ford counties 
seeking more information. A regional health clinic that has helped 
administer doses in southwest Kansas deferred to local health 
authorities.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and
 education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter 
@celia_LJ or email her at celia@kcur.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613744554329.png" alt="The Cargill beefpacking plant in Dodge City. Corinne Boyer / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>The Cargill beefpacking plant in Dodge City. Corinne Boyer / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-02-18/kansas-meatpacking-workers-faced-outbreak-after-outbreak-but-still-cant-get-a-covid-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>Thousands of meatpacking workers in southwest Kansas continue to wait for any news about when they’ll get the COVID-19 vaccine.That
 wait drags on even as some counties vaccinate college faculty, first 
responders and postal workers, and as Kansas launches a new program to 
get a first dose into the arm of every school worker by early April.Meatpacking
 plants have been the state’s third-biggest source of coronavirus 
outbreaks, eclipsed only by long-term care facilities (such as nursing 
homes) and jails and prisons.“Meatpacking workers have taken one 
of the hardest hits of this pandemic,” said Monica Vargas-Huertas, a 
political director for the United Food and Commercial Workers 
International Union Local 2 representing 7,000 meatpacking workers in 
two southwest Kansas counties. “They have been in the front lines from 
Day One.”The factory-scale slaughterhouses stayed open when many other businesses closed under <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-03-28/kansas-governor-issues-a-statewide-stay-at-home-order-which-starts-monday" target="_blank">statewide stay-at-home</a> orders last spring.“They kept working, securing the food (supply),” Vargas-Huertas said, “and securing the economy of the state.”But
 state officials say meatpacking facilities took steps that greatly 
reduced transmission within their walls. In the past two weeks, they 
say, the plants have seen no fresh coronavirus outbreaks involving five 
or more cases.And Kansas simply doesn’t receive enough vaccines 
per week from the federal government to quickly vaccinate all essential 
workers.Ashley Goss, deputy secretary for public health, says 
Gov. Laura Kelly wants to get children back to school as soon as 
possible because missing so much in-person contact with peers and 
educators can have long-term effects on learning and mental health.“She’s
 had to make some really tough decisions,” Goss said. “And she feels 
very strongly for our school staff to be the next push.”Kansas 
was receiving fewer than 100,000 doses a week from the federal 
government, though shipments should soon increase to about 115,000 a 
week.To speed shots to school workers, Kansas is redirecting some
 doses from counties that have made more progress than others on 
vaccinating their residents.For now, it will not do the same for meatpacking workers.<h2>Hot spots</h2>Kansas
 has some of the country’s most productive beef-packing plants. The 
industry drives the economies of Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal.The meatpacking workers are largely immigrants and people of color. <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/early-state-vaccination-data-raise-warning-flags-racial-equity/" target="_blank">Mounting evidence</a> from other states suggests people of color across the country aren’t receiving equitable access to the coronavirus vaccine.Kansas will soon publish vaccination statistics that shed light on whether that holds true here, too.The state’s figures on known COVID cases already show Hispanic people <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">significantly more likely</a> to catch the virus than non-Hispanic people.Nearly 4,000 known cases of COVID-19 and two dozen deaths link directly to the slaughterhouses in Kansas.Infections
 related to the plants continue to have serious ripple effects. Five 
ongoing outbreaks linked to the plants have led to nearly 1,800 known 
cases in their communities and 14 deaths.<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-u-s-is-underestimating-covid-reinfection/" target="_blank">Scientists remain uncertain</a> how long a survivor enjoys immunity before catching the illness again, meaning workers fear re-infection.“We want to prevent a new wave,” Vargas-Huertas said. “We cannot wait four or five months.”<h2>Phase 2 vaccines</h2>Meatpacking
 workers fall into Phase 2 of the state’s vaccine rollout plan. (Phase 1
 focused on health care workers and nursing homes.)But Phase 2 is
 a bucket so massive that it includes about 1 million people, or a third
 of the state’s population. It covers everyone over the age of 65 and a 
wide variety of other groups, such as teachers, police and grocery 
clerks.The state largely lets each county make its own decisions on how to prioritize within that bucket.“We’ve
 tried to stick with public health being decentralized in our state,” 
Goss said. “Local health authorities have the ability to decide.”This week the governor’s office announced one exception: It will start earmarking doses each week for school workers.But meatpackers in Seward, Ford and Finney counties remain unclear when their turn will come.UFCW
 International Local 2 represents workers at plants in Seward and Ford 
counties and communicates regularly with other workers in Finney County.It says workers haven’t been able to get shots unless they qualify based on reasons other than their jobs.“Only
 those workers over 65 years old have received a vaccine or an 
appointment,” Vargas-Huertas said. “The rest of the workers, they 
haven’t even received an appointment.”The sites are eagerly 
preparing, she said. Health care workers employed by the plants have 
already gathered information from employees to prioritize which ones 
face the greatest health risks and should get the shots first when they 
become available.State health officials say plants have applied 
to give the vaccine on site, so eventually Kansas will send doses to 
them directly.Only, Kansas can’t get its hands on enough doses 
yet to make that happen, Goss said, despite pleading with every federal 
agency it can think of.“Oh my gosh,” Goss said. “I’ve told anyone
 who will listen. … Anyone who has an ear in the federal government or 
is part of it. We tell them if there’s anyone’s vaccine (who) can’t use 
it, doesn’t want it, that you just want to give us — we’ll take it. 
We’re more than happy to beg and borrow.”<h2>No plant shutdowns</h2>Early
 in the pandemic, some meatpacking workers said their plants should 
close for deep cleaning when coronavirus began spreading on the 
slaughterhouse floors. At <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">least one county medical officer agreed</a>.The
 companies opposed closure, and National Beef urged the Kelly 
administration to make clear to meatpacking workers — many of whom were 
fearful of continuing to show up for work in buildings where the disease
 was spreading — that they have a “special responsibility” to do their 
jobs.State officials said they could close the plants if 
necessary, but wanted to avoid that and require changes within the 
buildings to promote safety instead.The Kelly and <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/emails-show-the-meatpacking-industry-drafted-an-executive-order-to-keep-plants-open" target="_blank">Trump</a> administrations threw their weight behind ramping up COVID-19 testing for meatpacking plants to keep the facilities open. <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">The state said</a> workers with known COVID-19 exposure could keep going to work unless they showed symptoms.<h2>Finding a shot</h2>But inside the plants, true <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-05-04/despite-meatpacking-plants-efforts-kansas-workers-say-were-right-next-to-each-other" target="_blank">social distancing is impossible</a>, the union says, and plexiglass and face masks can only do so much.Public
 announcements on the Facebook pages and websites of Seward, Finney and 
Ford counties and a southwest Kansas clinic that has helped with 
outreach and giving shots don’t say when meatpacking workers will get 
their doses.Nor have workers been able to find that out from the state health department.By late January, Finney County was vaccinating people over the age of 65, police officers, firefighters and clergy.Day care workers, UPS, FedEx and postal workers, city employees and taxi drivers were among those who became eligible next.This week, community college faculty and school employees also get their turn.The
 most recent update on the Seward County Facebook page, meanwhile, says 
the county is scheduling people over the age of 90 or in critical 
functions, but doesn’t elaborate on the latter category.The 
Kansas News Service has reached out to Finney, Seward and Ford counties 
seeking more information. A regional health clinic that has helped 
administer doses in southwest Kansas deferred to local health 
authorities.Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and
 education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter 
@celia_LJ or email her at celia@kcur.org.

Despite outbreaks, Kan. meatpacking workers wait in line for their COVID vaccine

WAKEFIELD, Neb. (AP) - A northeastern Nebraska woman has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for child abuse that included locking two children in a bedroom and feeding them only once a day.

Angel Henderson told a judge on Friday that she and her husband adopted two special-needs children out of love. But the&nbsp;<a href="https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/wakefield-woman-sentenced-to-5-10-years-prison-for-child-abuse/article_bf595069-654b-5cd4-81ab-7f96881dd65a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1" target="_blank">Sioux City Journal</a>&nbsp;reported that Judge Bryan Meismer told Henderson they added more trauma to the kids' lives.

A jury in November found Henderson, 44, of Wakefield, guilty of two child abuse counts. She and her husband, Patrick, were arrested in January 2019 after police found one of the children - then 14 - hiding and dressed in pajamas in which the legs had been sewn together and the arms sewn to the sides to restrict movement.

Henderson said Friday that the pajamas were used for "swaddling," or helping to calm the children. She said both had behavioral issues.

Patrick Henderson, 56, pleaded guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor count of child abuse in November 2019 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613843244922.png" alt="Angel Henderson" />
 <figcaption>Angel Henderson</figcaption>
 </figure>WAKEFIELD, Neb. (AP) - A northeastern Nebraska woman has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for child abuse that included locking two children in a bedroom and feeding them only once a day.Angel Henderson told a judge on Friday that she and her husband adopted two special-needs children out of love. But the&nbsp;<a href="https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/wakefield-woman-sentenced-to-5-10-years-prison-for-child-abuse/article_bf595069-654b-5cd4-81ab-7f96881dd65a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1" target="_blank">Sioux City Journal</a>&nbsp;reported that Judge Bryan Meismer told Henderson they added more trauma to the kids' lives.A jury in November found Henderson, 44, of Wakefield, guilty of two child abuse counts. She and her husband, Patrick, were arrested in January 2019 after police found one of the children - then 14 - hiding and dressed in pajamas in which the legs had been sewn together and the arms sewn to the sides to restrict movement.Henderson said Friday that the pajamas were used for "swaddling," or helping to calm the children. She said both had behavioral issues.Patrick Henderson, 56, pleaded guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor count of child abuse in November 2019 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Nebraska woman sentenced in child abuse case

WASHINGTON (AP) — By the thousands, U.S. service members are refusing or putting off the COVID-19 vaccine as frustrated commanders scramble to knock down internet rumors and find the right pitch that will persuade troops to get the shot.

Some Army units are seeing as few as one-third agree to the vaccine. Military leaders searching for answers believe they have identified one potential convincer: an imminent deployment. Navy sailors on ships heading out to sea last week, for example, were choosing to take the shot at rates exceeding 80% to 90%.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, told Congress on Wednesday that “very early data” suggests that just up to two-thirds of the service members offered the vaccine have accepted.

That’s higher than the rate for the general population, which a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation put at roughly 50%. But the significant number of forces declining the vaccine is especially worrisome because troops often live, work and fight closely together in environments where social distancing and wearing masks, at times, are difficult.

The military’s resistance also comes as troops are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-deploys-troops-virus-vaccine-c60769071dbc308c6eeeee77668e395d">deploying to administer shots</a>&nbsp;at vaccination centers around the country and as leaders look to American forces to set an example for the nation.

“We’re still struggling with what is the messaging and how do we influence people to opt in for the vaccine,” said Brig. Gen. Edward Bailey, the surgeon for Army Forces Command. He said that in some units just 30% have agreed to take the vaccine, while others are between 50% and 70%. Forces Command oversees major Army units, encompassing about 750,000 Army, Reserve and National Guard soldiers at 15 bases.

At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where several thousand troops are preparing for future deployments, the vaccine acceptance rate is about 60%, Bailey said. That’s “not as high as we would hope for front-line personnel,” he said.

“I think the most amusing one I heard was, ‘The Army always tells me what to do, they gave me a choice, so I said no’,” he said.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/army-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-jill-biden-1caffff55ad1817a2e618aa5dfa3b826">Service leaders have vigorously campaigned</a>&nbsp;for the vaccine. They have held town halls, written messages to the force, distributed scientific data, posted videos, and even put out photos of leaders getting vaccinated.

For weeks, the Pentagon insisted it did not know how many troops were declining the vaccine. On Wednesday they provided few details on their early data.

Officials from individual military services, however, said in interviews with The Associated Press that refusal rates vary widely, depending on a service member’s age, unit, location, deployment status and other intangibles.

The variations make it harder for leaders to identify which arguments for the vaccine are most persuasive. The Food and Drug Administration has allowed emergency use of the vaccine, so it’s voluntary. But Defense Department officials say they hope that soon may change.

“We cannot make it mandatory yet,” Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander of the Navy’s 2nd Fleet, said last week. “I can tell you we’re probably going to make it mandatory as soon as we can, just like we do with the flu vaccine.”

About 40 Marines gathered recently in a California conference room for an information session from medical staff. One officer, who was not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Marines are more comfortable posing questions about the vaccine in smaller groups.

The officer said one Marine, citing a widely circulated and false conspiracy theory, said: “I heard that this thing is actually a tracking device.” The medical staff, said the officer, quickly debunked that theory, and pointed to the Marine’s cellphone, noting that it’s an effective tracker.

Other frequent questions revolved around possible side effects or health concerns, including for pregnant women. Army, Navy and Air Force officials say they hear much the same.

The Marine Corps is a relatively small service and troops are generally younger. Similar to the general population, younger service members are more likely to decline or ask to wait. In many cases, military commanders said, younger troops say they have had the coronavirus or known others who had it, and concluded it was not bad.

“What they’re not seeing is that 20-year-olds who’ve actually gotten very sick, have been hospitalized or die, or the folks who appear to be fine but then it turns out they’ve developed pulmonary and cardiac abnormalities,” Bailey said.

Lewis, based in Norfolk, Virginia, said last week that sailors on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is operating in the Atlantic, agreed to get the shot at a rate of about 80%. Sailors on the USS Iwo Jima and Marines in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, who also are deploying, had rates of more than 90%.

Bailey said the Army is seeing opportunities to reduce the two-week quarantine period for units deploying to Europe if service members are largely vaccinated and the host nation agrees. U.S. Army Europe may cut the quarantine time to five days if 70% of the unit is vaccinated, and that incentive could work, he said.

The acceptance numbers drop off among those who are not deploying, military officials said.

Gen. James McConville, the Army’s chief of staff, used his own experience to encourage troops to be vaccinated. “When they asked me how it felt, I said it was a lot less painful than some of the meetings I go to in the Pentagon.”

Col. Jody Dugai, commander of the Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital at Fort Polk, Louisiana, said that so far conversations at the squad level, with eight to 10 peers, have been successful, and that getting more information helps.

At the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Brig. Gen. David Doyle, has a dual challenge. As base commander, he must persuade the nearly 7,500 soldiers on base to get the shot and he needs to ensure that the thousands of troops that cycle in and out for training exercises are safe.

Doyle said the acceptance rate on his base is between 30% and 40%, and that most often it’s the younger troops who decline.

“They tell me they don’t have high confidence in the vaccine because they believe it was done too quickly,” he said. Top health officials have attested to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

Doyle said it appears peers are often more influential than leaders in persuading troops — a sentiment echoed by Bailey, the Army Forces Command surgeon.

“We’re trying to figure out who the influencers are,” Bailey said. “Is it a squad leader or platoon sergeant in the Army? I think it probably is. Someone who is more of their age and interacts with them more on a regular basis versus the general officer who takes his picture and says, ‘I got the shot.’″

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613698670049.png" alt="Photo courtesy Department of Defense" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Department of Defense</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — By the thousands, U.S. service members are refusing or putting off the COVID-19 vaccine as frustrated commanders scramble to knock down internet rumors and find the right pitch that will persuade troops to get the shot.Some Army units are seeing as few as one-third agree to the vaccine. Military leaders searching for answers believe they have identified one potential convincer: an imminent deployment. Navy sailors on ships heading out to sea last week, for example, were choosing to take the shot at rates exceeding 80% to 90%.Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, told Congress on Wednesday that “very early data” suggests that just up to two-thirds of the service members offered the vaccine have accepted.That’s higher than the rate for the general population, which a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation put at roughly 50%. But the significant number of forces declining the vaccine is especially worrisome because troops often live, work and fight closely together in environments where social distancing and wearing masks, at times, are difficult.The military’s resistance also comes as troops are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-deploys-troops-virus-vaccine-c60769071dbc308c6eeeee77668e395d">deploying to administer shots</a>&nbsp;at vaccination centers around the country and as leaders look to American forces to set an example for the nation.“We’re still struggling with what is the messaging and how do we influence people to opt in for the vaccine,” said Brig. Gen. Edward Bailey, the surgeon for Army Forces Command. He said that in some units just 30% have agreed to take the vaccine, while others are between 50% and 70%. Forces Command oversees major Army units, encompassing about 750,000 Army, Reserve and National Guard soldiers at 15 bases.At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where several thousand troops are preparing for future deployments, the vaccine acceptance rate is about 60%, Bailey said. That’s “not as high as we would hope for front-line personnel,” he said.Bailey has heard all the excuses.“I think the most amusing one I heard was, ‘The Army always tells me what to do, they gave me a choice, so I said no’,” he said.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/army-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-jill-biden-1caffff55ad1817a2e618aa5dfa3b826">Service leaders have vigorously campaigned</a>&nbsp;for the vaccine. They have held town halls, written messages to the force, distributed scientific data, posted videos, and even put out photos of leaders getting vaccinated.For weeks, the Pentagon insisted it did not know how many troops were declining the vaccine. On Wednesday they provided few details on their early data.Officials from individual military services, however, said in interviews with The Associated Press that refusal rates vary widely, depending on a service member’s age, unit, location, deployment status and other intangibles.The variations make it harder for leaders to identify which arguments for the vaccine are most persuasive. The Food and Drug Administration has allowed emergency use of the vaccine, so it’s voluntary. But Defense Department officials say they hope that soon may change.“We cannot make it mandatory yet,” Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander of the Navy’s 2nd Fleet, said last week. “I can tell you we’re probably going to make it mandatory as soon as we can, just like we do with the flu vaccine.”About 40 Marines gathered recently in a California conference room for an information session from medical staff. One officer, who was not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Marines are more comfortable posing questions about the vaccine in smaller groups.The officer said one Marine, citing a widely circulated and false conspiracy theory, said: “I heard that this thing is actually a tracking device.” The medical staff, said the officer, quickly debunked that theory, and pointed to the Marine’s cellphone, noting that it’s an effective tracker.Other frequent questions revolved around possible side effects or health concerns, including for pregnant women. Army, Navy and Air Force officials say they hear much the same.The Marine Corps is a relatively small service and troops are generally younger. Similar to the general population, younger service members are more likely to decline or ask to wait. In many cases, military commanders said, younger troops say they have had the coronavirus or known others who had it, and concluded it was not bad.“What they’re not seeing is that 20-year-olds who’ve actually gotten very sick, have been hospitalized or die, or the folks who appear to be fine but then it turns out they’ve developed pulmonary and cardiac abnormalities,” Bailey said.One ray of hope has been deployments.Lewis, based in Norfolk, Virginia, said last week that sailors on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is operating in the Atlantic, agreed to get the shot at a rate of about 80%. Sailors on the USS Iwo Jima and Marines in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, who also are deploying, had rates of more than 90%.Bailey said the Army is seeing opportunities to reduce the two-week quarantine period for units deploying to Europe if service members are largely vaccinated and the host nation agrees. U.S. Army Europe may cut the quarantine time to five days if 70% of the unit is vaccinated, and that incentive could work, he said.The acceptance numbers drop off among those who are not deploying, military officials said.Gen. James McConville, the Army’s chief of staff, used his own experience to encourage troops to be vaccinated. “When they asked me how it felt, I said it was a lot less painful than some of the meetings I go to in the Pentagon.”Col. Jody Dugai, commander of the Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital at Fort Polk, Louisiana, said that so far conversations at the squad level, with eight to 10 peers, have been successful, and that getting more information helps.At the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Brig. Gen. David Doyle, has a dual challenge. As base commander, he must persuade the nearly 7,500 soldiers on base to get the shot and he needs to ensure that the thousands of troops that cycle in and out for training exercises are safe.Doyle said the acceptance rate on his base is between 30% and 40%, and that most often it’s the younger troops who decline.“They tell me they don’t have high confidence in the vaccine because they believe it was done too quickly,” he said. Top health officials have attested to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.Doyle said it appears peers are often more influential than leaders in persuading troops — a sentiment echoed by Bailey, the Army Forces Command surgeon.“We’re trying to figure out who the influencers are,” Bailey said. “Is it a squad leader or platoon sergeant in the Army? I think it probably is. Someone who is more of their age and interacts with them more on a regular basis versus the general officer who takes his picture and says, ‘I got the shot.’″___

Thousands of service members saying no to COVID-19 vaccine

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deadly weather will be hitting the U.S. more often, and America needs to get better at dealing with it, experts said as Texas and other states battled winter storms that blew past the worst-case planning of utilities, governments and millions of shivering residents.

This week’s storms —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/100-million-americans-more-ice-snow-404012f8d8885259968b8d37b13899d6">with more still heading east&nbsp;</a>— fit a pattern of worsening extremes under climate change and demonstrate anew that local, state and federal officials have failed to do nearly enough to prepare for greater and more dangerous weather.

At least two dozen people have died this week, including from fire or carbon monoxide poisoning while struggling to find warmth inside their homes. In Oklahoma City, an Arctic blast plunged temperatures in the state capital as low as 14 degrees below 0.

“This is a different kind of storm,″ said Kendra Clements, one of several businesspeople in Oklahoma City who opened their buildings to shelter homeless people, some with frostbite, hypothermia and icicles in their hair. It was also a harbinger of what social service providers and governments say will be a surge of increased needs for society’s most vulnerable as climate and natural disasters worsen.

Other Americans are at risk as well. Power supplies of all sorts failed in the extreme cold, including natural gas-fired power plants that were knocked offline amid icy conditions and, to a smaller extent, wind turbines that froze and stopped working. More than 100 million people live in areas under winter weather warnings, watches or advisories, and blackouts are expected to continue in some parts of the country for days.

The crisis sounded an alarm for power systems throughout the country: As climate change worsens, severe conditions that go beyond historical norms are becoming ever more common. Texas, for example, expects power demand to peak in the heat of summer, not the depths of winter, as it did this week.

The dire storms come as President Joe Biden aims to spend up to $2 trillion on infrastructure and clean energy investment over four years. Biden has pledged to update the U.S. power grid to be carbon-pollution free by 2035 as well as weatherize buildings, repair roads and build electric vehicle charging stations.

“Building resilient and sustainable infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather and a changing climate will play an integral role” in creating jobs and meeting Biden’s goal of “a net-zero emissions future,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

The storms are big news this week, especially in light of their effect on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/weather-hampers-vaccine-distribution-7a8e8908a0d68da784d1335b3bd6ead8">COVID-19 vaccinations</a>&nbsp;as well as freezing Americans, but that doesn’t mean they won’t become more common, experts say.

“This definitely was an anomaly,″ but one that is likely to occur more frequently as a result of climate change, said Sara Eftekharnejad, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University.

“There probably needs to be better planning, because we’re starting to see more extreme weather events across the country,″ she said, whether it’s severe cold in Texas or the intense heat wave in California last year that fueled deadly wildfires.

Better forecasting — both short-term and long-term — would help avoid catastrophic failures such as the current outages in Texas and other states, as would large-scale storage systems that can supply electricity when demand spikes and a greater diversity of power sources, Eftekharnejad and other experts said.

Climate change also is hurting military readiness. Damage from a 2018 hurricane at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and 2019 flooding at Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base, for example, led the Pentagon to send service members as far away as Britain to train.

Another 2018 hurricane that hit North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, home to one-third of the U.S. Marine Corps’ capability, caused enough damage to degrade training overall, senior U.S. military authorities concluded.

Hardening military installations against worsening natural disasters will cost trillions. But it has to be done, said Joan VanDervort, a former longtime Defense Department climate expert now with the Center for Climate and Security think tank. “We have eyes overseas that are looking at our vulnerability and seeing how we respond. ... There are enemies out there that will certainly take advantage of it.”

Michael Craig, an assistant professor of energy systems at the University of Michigan, said the events in California and Texas show that “what we have now is not going to do it in the face of climate change. It’s only going to get worse from here.″

The disaster in Texas and other states “is a reminder that our nation’s critical infrastructure is vulnerable to extreme weather events and we can no longer turn a blind eye to the resiliency investments needed to protect it,″ said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who met with Biden at the White House last week.

“The cost associated with addressing climate change and improving our infrastructure’s resilience is always going to be less than the cost of rebuilding or failing to act,″ Carper said.

Meanwhile, federal regulators are looking into the operations of the bulk-power system during the severe winter storm that affected states from Louisiana to Minnesota.

In Texas, where wind power is a growing source of electricity, the wind turbines generally are not equipped to withstand extended low temperatures, as they are in Iowa and other cold-weather states. Modifying the turbines slightly to withstand freezing temperatures is one step needed to confront climate change, said Roy McCann, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas.

While some Republican politicians, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have tried to pin blame on wind and solar power for the outages, traditional thermal power plants, which rely mostly on natural gas, provide the bulk of power in the state and were the larger problem.

“The entire system was overwhelmed,” said Joshua Rhodes, a research associate on energy issues at the University of Texas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deadly weather will be hitting the U.S. more often, and America needs to get better at dealing with it, experts said as Texas and other states battled winter storms that blew past the worst-case planning of utilities, governments and millions of shivering residents.This week’s storms —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/100-million-americans-more-ice-snow-404012f8d8885259968b8d37b13899d6">with more still heading east&nbsp;</a>— fit a pattern of worsening extremes under climate change and demonstrate anew that local, state and federal officials have failed to do nearly enough to prepare for greater and more dangerous weather.At least two dozen people have died this week, including from fire or carbon monoxide poisoning while struggling to find warmth inside their homes. In Oklahoma City, an Arctic blast plunged temperatures in the state capital as low as 14 degrees below 0.“This is a different kind of storm,″ said Kendra Clements, one of several businesspeople in Oklahoma City who opened their buildings to shelter homeless people, some with frostbite, hypothermia and icicles in their hair. It was also a harbinger of what social service providers and governments say will be a surge of increased needs for society’s most vulnerable as climate and natural disasters worsen.Other Americans are at risk as well. Power supplies of all sorts failed in the extreme cold, including natural gas-fired power plants that were knocked offline amid icy conditions and, to a smaller extent, wind turbines that froze and stopped working. More than 100 million people live in areas under winter weather warnings, watches or advisories, and blackouts are expected to continue in some parts of the country for days.The crisis sounded an alarm for power systems throughout the country: As climate change worsens, severe conditions that go beyond historical norms are becoming ever more common. Texas, for example, expects power demand to peak in the heat of summer, not the depths of winter, as it did this week.The dire storms come as President Joe Biden aims to spend up to $2 trillion on infrastructure and clean energy investment over four years. Biden has pledged to update the U.S. power grid to be carbon-pollution free by 2035 as well as weatherize buildings, repair roads and build electric vehicle charging stations.“Building resilient and sustainable infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather and a changing climate will play an integral role” in creating jobs and meeting Biden’s goal of “a net-zero emissions future,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.The storms are big news this week, especially in light of their effect on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/weather-hampers-vaccine-distribution-7a8e8908a0d68da784d1335b3bd6ead8">COVID-19 vaccinations</a>&nbsp;as well as freezing Americans, but that doesn’t mean they won’t become more common, experts say.“This definitely was an anomaly,″ but one that is likely to occur more frequently as a result of climate change, said Sara Eftekharnejad, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University.“There probably needs to be better planning, because we’re starting to see more extreme weather events across the country,″ she said, whether it’s severe cold in Texas or the intense heat wave in California last year that fueled deadly wildfires.Better forecasting — both short-term and long-term — would help avoid catastrophic failures such as the current outages in Texas and other states, as would large-scale storage systems that can supply electricity when demand spikes and a greater diversity of power sources, Eftekharnejad and other experts said.Climate change also is hurting military readiness. Damage from a 2018 hurricane at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and 2019 flooding at Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base, for example, led the Pentagon to send service members as far away as Britain to train.Another 2018 hurricane that hit North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, home to one-third of the U.S. Marine Corps’ capability, caused enough damage to degrade training overall, senior U.S. military authorities concluded.Hardening military installations against worsening natural disasters will cost trillions. But it has to be done, said Joan VanDervort, a former longtime Defense Department climate expert now with the Center for Climate and Security think tank. “We have eyes overseas that are looking at our vulnerability and seeing how we respond. ... There are enemies out there that will certainly take advantage of it.”Michael Craig, an assistant professor of energy systems at the University of Michigan, said the events in California and Texas show that “what we have now is not going to do it in the face of climate change. It’s only going to get worse from here.″The disaster in Texas and other states “is a reminder that our nation’s critical infrastructure is vulnerable to extreme weather events and we can no longer turn a blind eye to the resiliency investments needed to protect it,″ said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who met with Biden at the White House last week.“The cost associated with addressing climate change and improving our infrastructure’s resilience is always going to be less than the cost of rebuilding or failing to act,″ Carper said.Meanwhile, federal regulators are looking into the operations of the bulk-power system during the severe winter storm that affected states from Louisiana to Minnesota.In Texas, where wind power is a growing source of electricity, the wind turbines generally are not equipped to withstand extended low temperatures, as they are in Iowa and other cold-weather states. Modifying the turbines slightly to withstand freezing temperatures is one step needed to confront climate change, said Roy McCann, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas.While some Republican politicians, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have tried to pin blame on wind and solar power for the outages, traditional thermal power plants, which rely mostly on natural gas, provide the bulk of power in the state and were the larger problem.“The entire system was overwhelmed,” said Joshua Rhodes, a research associate on energy issues at the University of Texas.

US needs to brace itself for more deadly storms, experts say


On
Friday, February 19, 2021, Deborah Sandoval of Des Moines, IA, and
Salvador Sandoval Jr. of Ankeny, IA, were arrested on federal
warrants by special agents from the FBI Omaha Field Office’s Des
Moines Resident Agency. The mother and son face charges stemming from
the events at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

The
federal charges against Deborah Sandoval include:

The
federal charges against Salvador Sandoval Jr. include:


Deborah
Sandoval and Salvador Sandoval Jr. made an initial appearance in
federal court today. You will find any additional information at this
link - https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/6/1560976820049.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>News Release FBI Omaha
On
Friday, February 19, 2021, Deborah Sandoval of Des Moines, IA, and
Salvador Sandoval Jr. of Ankeny, IA, were arrested on federal
warrants by special agents from the FBI Omaha Field Office’s Des
Moines Resident Agency. The mother and son face charges stemming from
the events at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.The
federal charges against Deborah Sandoval include:<ul>
 <li>Knowingly
	Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without
	Lawful Authority
</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Knowingly
	Impeding or Disrupting the Orderly Conduct of Government
</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Violent
	Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds
</li>
 </ul>The
federal charges against Salvador Sandoval Jr. include:<ul>
 <li>Obstructing,
	Impeding or Interfering with Law Enforcement
</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Knowingly
	Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without
	Lawful Authority
</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Violent
	Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds
</li>
 </ul>
Deborah
Sandoval and Salvador Sandoval Jr. made an initial appearance in
federal court today. You will find any additional information at this
link - https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases