WASHINGTON (AP) — Security screeners confiscated guns at airport checkpoints at a record pace last year although the total number of guns dropped along with the steep plunge in travelers because of the pandemic.

The Transportation Security Administration said this week that screeners found 3,257 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags in 2020, or about 10 for every million travelers. About 83% of the guns were loaded.

The rate was double that in 2019, when screeners found 5 guns for every million passengers. However, with 500 million more travelers screened in 2019, TSA officers found a record 4,432 guns that year.

Screeners found 220 guns at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, followed by 176 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, 126 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, 126 at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport, and 104 at Denver International Airport.

Federal law prohibits passengers other than certain law enforcement officers from bringing guns or ammunition into the cabin. Federal law allows passengers to put guns in checked bags that go into the cargo hold if they are unloaded and in a locked case.

Airlines don’t have to permit guns even in checked bags. All leading U.S. carriers temporarily banned guns in checked bags on flights to Washington, D.C.-area airports for a week after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Those bans lapsed last weekend, three days after the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

&nbsp;Visit the TSA website for details on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition">how to properly travel with a firearm</a>.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Security screeners confiscated guns at airport checkpoints at a record pace last year although the total number of guns dropped along with the steep plunge in travelers because of the pandemic.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TSAofficer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TSAofficer</a> vigilance never stops. Despite reduced passenger volume, travelers continue to be stopped with firearms in their carry-on bag, like this one <a href="https://twitter.com/Reagan_Airport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@reagan_airport</a>. Remember, firearms are a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/prohibiteditem?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#prohibiteditem</a>. Learn more: <a href="https://t.co/s6SDKT4iO1">https://t.co/s6SDKT4iO1</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotOnOurWatch?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotOnOurWatch</a> <a href="https://t.co/WuhKICseIL">pic.twitter.com/WuhKICseIL</a>&mdash; TSA (@TSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSA/status/1346489131942068224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The Transportation Security Administration said this week that screeners found 3,257 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags in 2020, or about 10 for every million travelers. About 83% of the guns were loaded.<figure>
 <img src="https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/firearms-pr_0.png" alt="Firearms discovered at TSA checkpoints in 2020 (TSA Photo)​​​ " />
 <figcaption>Firearms discovered at TSA checkpoints in 2020 (TSA Photo)​​​ </figcaption>
 </figure>The rate was double that in 2019, when screeners found 5 guns for every million passengers. However, with 500 million more travelers screened in 2019, TSA officers found a record 4,432 guns that year.Screeners found 220 guns at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, followed by 176 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, 126 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, 126 at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport, and 104 at Denver International Airport.Federal law prohibits passengers other than certain law enforcement officers from bringing guns or ammunition into the cabin. Federal law allows passengers to put guns in checked bags that go into the cargo hold if they are unloaded and in a locked case.Airlines don’t have to permit guns even in checked bags. All leading U.S. carriers temporarily banned guns in checked bags on flights to Washington, D.C.-area airports for a week after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Those bans lapsed last weekend, three days after the inauguration of President Joe Biden.&nbsp;Visit the TSA website for details on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition">how to properly travel with a firearm</a>.

Report: Rate of guns seized at US airports doubled 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has agreed to pay millions more to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/salina-kansas-topeka-1b3b0e420e470e18a7dec207441ad8f7">troubled</a>&nbsp;Kansas-based foster care contractor that was rapidly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-omaha-nebraska-4081f394b3b66965af10a148643c188a">running out of money&nbsp;</a>after significantly underbidding the company that used to provide child welfare services in the Omaha area.

The total cost of the new 25-month contract with St. Francis Ministries totals more than $147 million.

St. Francis won the Nebraska job in 2019 by offering to do it for less than 60% of the bid from PromiseShip, the Omaha-based agency that held the previous contract.

At the time, PromiseShip executives and some state lawmakers questioned how St. Francis could provide care in Douglas and Sarpy Counties for that much less money. As it turned out, they couldn’t.

St. Francis said it was in the hole by nearly $35 million over the time it took over services from PromiseShip. State officials say it needs to continue working with St. Francis to ensure continuity of services for the children, families and caseworkers involved in the two counties’ foster care and child welfare system.

The yearly cost for services from St. Francis will now exceed what it would have cost if PromiseShip had been given a renewed contract.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1611946908688.jpeg" alt="Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector</figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has agreed to pay millions more to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/salina-kansas-topeka-1b3b0e420e470e18a7dec207441ad8f7">troubled</a>&nbsp;Kansas-based foster care contractor that was rapidly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-omaha-nebraska-4081f394b3b66965af10a148643c188a">running out of money&nbsp;</a>after significantly underbidding the company that used to provide child welfare services in the Omaha area.The total cost of the new 25-month contract with St. Francis Ministries totals more than $147 million.St. Francis won the Nebraska job in 2019 by offering to do it for less than 60% of the bid from PromiseShip, the Omaha-based agency that held the previous contract.At the time, PromiseShip executives and some state lawmakers questioned how St. Francis could provide care in Douglas and Sarpy Counties for that much less money. As it turned out, they couldn’t.St. Francis said it was in the hole by nearly $35 million over the time it took over services from PromiseShip. State officials say it needs to continue working with St. Francis to ensure continuity of services for the children, families and caseworkers involved in the two counties’ foster care and child welfare system.The yearly cost for services from St. Francis will now exceed what it would have cost if PromiseShip had been given a renewed contract.

Troubled Kansas foster care agency gets big boost from Nebraska

The University of Nebraska Medical Center, in partnership with Nebraska Medicine, has been awarded a $9.5 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance infection prevention and control (IPC) initiatives in small and rural health care facilities and advance the ability of health care workers to provide safe and effective clinical care.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Three innovations are being proposed for this project:&nbsp;&nbsp;

The ISTARI Care Cube 2.0 is an advanced, independent, modular and field-adapted version of ISTARI Care Cube.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"It is intended to enable safe infection prevention and control practices and provide highly effective patient care in the field in a manner that is highly scalable," said James Lawler, MD, director, international programs and innovation, Global Center for Health Security. "ISTARI is a negative pressure envelope that is easily portable and can be assembled in minutes. It features an integrated, HEPA-equivalent air filtration and ventilation system; flexible, transparent walls for patient interactions and procedures; airlock pass-through chambers; and compatibility with routine hospital equipment and facilities."&nbsp;&nbsp;

By wrapping personal protective equipment (PPE) around the patient rather than the health care worker, we can drastically conserve PPE, Dr. Lawler said. In turn, there is less risk to the health care worker and less risk of hospital-acquired infection overall. ISTARI 2.0 increases the national capacity for IPC during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as provides for future public health emergencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Many health care settings endure gaps and challenges to IPC programs, and UNMC/Nebraska Medicine intend to resolve these issues with mixed reality for consultation, assessment and education," Dr. Lawler said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Mixed reality is an environment where physical reality and digital content are combined to enable interaction with real world and virtual objects -- blending real world and digital settings. It is a fusion of technologies that will be used to assist rural and acute facility infection preventionists with training, assessment and mentoring.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"By designing a virtual hospital with various infection prevention and control scenarios, the virtual reality environment can be used to train additional staff through engaging technology while maintaining and updating their own skills with more comprehensive hands-on challenges," said Pam Pizzi, Nebraska Regional Disaster Health Response Ecosystem consultant. "IPs can also engage with virtual subject matter experts using an artificial intelligence 'chatline' to find immediate, authoritative answers to pressing issues or, alternatively, complete holistic self-assessments for their facility.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Global Center for Health Security will establish a NICS test bed network to ensure the generation, transfer and translation of infection prevention and control innovations for varied clinical environments in frontline and critical access facilities. GCHS's outreach includes more than 32,500 health care workers and 109 facilities of varying size, both domestically and internationally.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"The innovation test bed will allow us to take innovation and put it in places where they will be used for patient care," said David Brett-Major, MD, professor of epidemiology in the UNMC College of Public Health. "The more we are able to bring innovation into the test beds, the more we can ensure these ideas are developed, and are developed in a way they will be useful."&nbsp;&nbsp;

By the end of the project period, the program will have identified gaps as well as opportunities to optimize IPC in small, rural health care facilities; increased the ability of small, rural facilities to implement mitigation strategies; and accelerate the development of novel approaches to advance isolation care.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center, in partnership with Nebraska Medicine, has been awarded a $9.5 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance infection prevention and control (IPC) initiatives in small and rural health care facilities and advance the ability of health care workers to provide safe and effective clinical care.&nbsp;&nbsp;Three innovations are being proposed for this project:&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>he Isolation System for Treatment and Agile Response for high risk infections (ISTARI) Care Cube 2.0;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>the Mixed Reality for Consultation, Assessment and Education; and&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>the&nbsp;National Infection Control Strengthening&nbsp;(NICS)&nbsp;for Small and Rural Hospitals&nbsp;Innovation Test Bed Network.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>ISTARI Care Cube 2.0&nbsp;The ISTARI Care Cube 2.0 is an advanced, independent, modular and field-adapted version of ISTARI Care Cube.&nbsp;&nbsp;"It is intended to enable safe infection prevention and control practices and provide highly effective patient care in the field in a manner that is highly scalable," said James Lawler, MD, director, international programs and innovation, Global Center for Health Security. "ISTARI is a negative pressure envelope that is easily portable and can be assembled in minutes. It features an integrated, HEPA-equivalent air filtration and ventilation system; flexible, transparent walls for patient interactions and procedures; airlock pass-through chambers; and compatibility with routine hospital equipment and facilities."&nbsp;&nbsp;By wrapping personal protective equipment (PPE) around the patient rather than the health care worker, we can drastically conserve PPE, Dr. Lawler said. In turn, there is less risk to the health care worker and less risk of hospital-acquired infection overall. ISTARI 2.0 increases the national capacity for IPC during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as provides for future public health emergencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;"Many health care settings endure gaps and challenges to IPC programs, and UNMC/Nebraska Medicine intend to resolve these issues with mixed reality for consultation, assessment and education," Dr. Lawler said.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mixed reality is an environment where physical reality and digital content are combined to enable interaction with real world and virtual objects -- blending real world and digital settings. It is a fusion of technologies that will be used to assist rural and acute facility infection preventionists with training, assessment and mentoring.&nbsp;&nbsp;"By designing a virtual hospital with various infection prevention and control scenarios, the virtual reality environment can be used to train additional staff through engaging technology while maintaining and updating their own skills with more comprehensive hands-on challenges," said Pam Pizzi, Nebraska Regional Disaster Health Response Ecosystem consultant. "IPs can also engage with virtual subject matter experts using an artificial intelligence 'chatline' to find immediate, authoritative answers to pressing issues or, alternatively, complete holistic self-assessments for their facility.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Global Center for Health Security will establish a NICS test bed network to ensure the generation, transfer and translation of infection prevention and control innovations for varied clinical environments in frontline and critical access facilities. GCHS's outreach includes more than 32,500 health care workers and 109 facilities of varying size, both domestically and internationally.&nbsp;&nbsp;"The innovation test bed will allow us to take innovation and put it in places where they will be used for patient care," said David Brett-Major, MD, professor of epidemiology in the UNMC College of Public Health. "The more we are able to bring innovation into the test beds, the more we can ensure these ideas are developed, and are developed in a way they will be useful."&nbsp;&nbsp;By the end of the project period, the program will have identified gaps as well as opportunities to optimize IPC in small, rural health care facilities; increased the ability of small, rural facilities to implement mitigation strategies; and accelerate the development of novel approaches to advance isolation care.

UNMC receives $9.5 million CDC grant to enhance infection prevention 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden warned Friday of a steep and growing “cost of inaction” on his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan as the White House searched for “creative” ways to win public support for a package that is getting a cold shoulder from Senate Republicans.

In the age of COVID, it’s not as simple as jumping on a plane to travel the country and try to gin up a groundswell. And at a time of deep polarization, Biden may struggle to convince Republican voters of the urgency when Congress already has approved $4 trillion in aid, including $900 billion last month.

Biden signaled on Friday for the first time that he’s willing to move ahead without Republicans.

“I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it,” he told reporters. “But the COVID relief has to pass. No ifs, ands or buts.”

His message so far has been that a fresh $1.9 trillion in aid would be a bargain compared to the potential damage to the world’s largest economy if it doesn’t pass.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/j-and-j-coronavirus-vaccine-a7d254f0299d846062bf6195031880a3">An aggressive push for vaccinations&nbsp;</a>and generous aid to individuals would help put parents back to work and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-coronavirus-vaccine-47af1ca6b75a2cedaac7923b7b084404">let children return to school&nbsp;</a>and improve their lifetime earnings, Biden said at a Friday meeting with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. They met in the Oval Office, where the fireplace was lit to protect against the chill in Washington.

“We have learned from past crises that the risk is not doing too much,” he said. “The risk is not doing enough.”

Only a week into his presidency, Biden is confronting the challenge of selling his first major piece of legislation to a country he has pledged to unite. Private calls with Republican lawmakers have yet to produce any progress on reaching a deal, while Senate Democrats are now preparing to pass the measure strictly on partisan lines as soon as next week.

Some Biden allies have expressed frustration that the administration has not more clearly defined what the massive legislation would actually accomplish. The new president instead has largely focused his first nine days in office on signing executive orders rolling back his predecessor’s policies.

In particular, Biden, for whom the widespread distribution of coronavirus vaccines will be a defining test, has not explained what the increased money for testing and vaccination would achieve -- including how much quicker the White House believes it would help bring about an end to the pandemic.

Biden’s outreach to senators has largely brought criticism that the plan should be more targeted and that the country can afford to wait to see the effects of the stimulus dollars that were approved in December.

Republican lawmakers see a need for speeding vaccinations, but one Senate aide said their offices are not being bombarded with calls for an additional aid package. Constituents are more focused on the looming impeachment trial, said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

This has left the Biden team trying to expand its outreach beyond Capitol Hill.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden recognizes the importance of speaking directly to the American people about his plan for vaccinations and supporting the economy, but the pandemic has limited his ability to safely travel to drum up support. The administration is relying on TV interviews by White House officials and allies with local media and national shows like “The View,” as well as calls with governors, local officials and progressive and civic groups.

“We’re taking a number of creative steps, a little outside of the box,” Psaki said. “Certainly, his preference would be to get on a plane and fly around the country.”

Part of the challenge is that Biden must convince the public how different components of his proposal would work together. His plan allots $400 billion to spearhead a national vaccination program and the reopening of schools. It also includes $1,400 in direct payments to individuals, which critics say should be more targeted. And it includes a raise in the the minimum wage to $15 and aid for state and local governments, a nonstarter for most Republicans.

Many Republicans are under more political pressure from donors and activists back home to rein in spending than to approve more. Some Republicans particularly object to what are still seen by many as bailouts for cash-strapped state and local governments.

Some do support a deal, just not what Biden is offering. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of a bipartisan group of legislators contacted by the administration, said he supports funds for vaccine distribution and even potentially extra jobless benefits, but he wants a full accounting of what funding remains from previous aid packages.

“Unemployment insurance, they think it’s an emergency, well we have unemployment insurance in place until mid March. Where’s the emergency?” Portman said. “Am I against extending it, no I’m not. I think we should, based on some economic factors. But it just doesn’t make sense.”

Recent economic reports show the economy is still under severe strain, yet there is also the potential for the strongest growth in more than two decades once the coronavirus is contained.

The Commerce Department said Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-shrink-in-2020-b59f9be06dcf1da924f64afde2ce094c">the U.S. economy shrank 3.5% last year</a>, and on Friday it reported that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-consumer-spending-coronavirus-pandemic-economy-088b1827e27203cb018f3d5d99eb3289">consumer spending — the main driver of growth — had slumped 0.2% in December.</a>&nbsp;But the consumer spending report also suggested that the expanded unemployment benefits from the $900 billion aid package passed that same month had managed to boost incomes.

Gregory Daco, an economist at Oxford Economics, said, “The COVID relief bill of December essentially addressed the past, the dwindling aid at the end of 2020,” Now the administration must sell the public on what lies ahead.

He said, “The American Rescue Plan — it’s a plan geared toward the future, bridging the gap between January and September, when people will be able to spend more freely.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1611954809362.png" alt="President Biden expressed the importance of passing the White House’s proposed COVID-19 relief package during a Friday meeting -photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>President Biden expressed the importance of passing the White House’s proposed COVID-19 relief package during a Friday meeting -photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden warned Friday of a steep and growing “cost of inaction” on his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan as the White House searched for “creative” ways to win public support for a package that is getting a cold shoulder from Senate Republicans.In the age of COVID, it’s not as simple as jumping on a plane to travel the country and try to gin up a groundswell. And at a time of deep polarization, Biden may struggle to convince Republican voters of the urgency when Congress already has approved $4 trillion in aid, including $900 billion last month.Biden signaled on Friday for the first time that he’s willing to move ahead without Republicans.“I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it,” he told reporters. “But the COVID relief has to pass. No ifs, ands or buts.”His message so far has been that a fresh $1.9 trillion in aid would be a bargain compared to the potential damage to the world’s largest economy if it doesn’t pass.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/j-and-j-coronavirus-vaccine-a7d254f0299d846062bf6195031880a3">An aggressive push for vaccinations&nbsp;</a>and generous aid to individuals would help put parents back to work and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-coronavirus-vaccine-47af1ca6b75a2cedaac7923b7b084404">let children return to school&nbsp;</a>and improve their lifetime earnings, Biden said at a Friday meeting with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. They met in the Oval Office, where the fireplace was lit to protect against the chill in Washington.“We have learned from past crises that the risk is not doing too much,” he said. “The risk is not doing enough.”Only a week into his presidency, Biden is confronting the challenge of selling his first major piece of legislation to a country he has pledged to unite. Private calls with Republican lawmakers have yet to produce any progress on reaching a deal, while Senate Democrats are now preparing to pass the measure strictly on partisan lines as soon as next week.Some Biden allies have expressed frustration that the administration has not more clearly defined what the massive legislation would actually accomplish. The new president instead has largely focused his first nine days in office on signing executive orders rolling back his predecessor’s policies.In particular, Biden, for whom the widespread distribution of coronavirus vaccines will be a defining test, has not explained what the increased money for testing and vaccination would achieve -- including how much quicker the White House believes it would help bring about an end to the pandemic.Biden’s outreach to senators has largely brought criticism that the plan should be more targeted and that the country can afford to wait to see the effects of the stimulus dollars that were approved in December.Republican lawmakers see a need for speeding vaccinations, but one Senate aide said their offices are not being bombarded with calls for an additional aid package. Constituents are more focused on the looming impeachment trial, said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.This has left the Biden team trying to expand its outreach beyond Capitol Hill.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden recognizes the importance of speaking directly to the American people about his plan for vaccinations and supporting the economy, but the pandemic has limited his ability to safely travel to drum up support. The administration is relying on TV interviews by White House officials and allies with local media and national shows like “The View,” as well as calls with governors, local officials and progressive and civic groups.“We’re taking a number of creative steps, a little outside of the box,” Psaki said. “Certainly, his preference would be to get on a plane and fly around the country.”Part of the challenge is that Biden must convince the public how different components of his proposal would work together. His plan allots $400 billion to spearhead a national vaccination program and the reopening of schools. It also includes $1,400 in direct payments to individuals, which critics say should be more targeted. And it includes a raise in the the minimum wage to $15 and aid for state and local governments, a nonstarter for most Republicans.Many Republicans are under more political pressure from donors and activists back home to rein in spending than to approve more. Some Republicans particularly object to what are still seen by many as bailouts for cash-strapped state and local governments.Some do support a deal, just not what Biden is offering. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of a bipartisan group of legislators contacted by the administration, said he supports funds for vaccine distribution and even potentially extra jobless benefits, but he wants a full accounting of what funding remains from previous aid packages.“Unemployment insurance, they think it’s an emergency, well we have unemployment insurance in place until mid March. Where’s the emergency?” Portman said. “Am I against extending it, no I’m not. I think we should, based on some economic factors. But it just doesn’t make sense.”Recent economic reports show the economy is still under severe strain, yet there is also the potential for the strongest growth in more than two decades once the coronavirus is contained.The Commerce Department said Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-shrink-in-2020-b59f9be06dcf1da924f64afde2ce094c">the U.S. economy shrank 3.5% last year</a>, and on Friday it reported that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-consumer-spending-coronavirus-pandemic-economy-088b1827e27203cb018f3d5d99eb3289">consumer spending — the main driver of growth — had slumped 0.2% in December.</a>&nbsp;But the consumer spending report also suggested that the expanded unemployment benefits from the $900 billion aid package passed that same month had managed to boost incomes.Gregory Daco, an economist at Oxford Economics, said, “The COVID relief bill of December essentially addressed the past, the dwindling aid at the end of 2020,” Now the administration must sell the public on what lies ahead.He said, “The American Rescue Plan — it’s a plan geared toward the future, bridging the gap between January and September, when people will be able to spend more freely.”

Biden warns of growing cost of delay on $1.9T virus relief plan

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Biden administration hopes to begin vaccinating younger children by late spring or early summer.

The government’s top public health expert says clinical studies to determine whether approved coronavirus vaccines are safe for younger children will begin in the “next couple of months.”

The results could influence the debate over how to safely reopen public schools.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently given to health care workers, nursing home residents and older Americans weren’t tested on younger children.

Biden has set a goal of reopening most schools in his first 100 days in office or near the end of April.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1611941719034.png" alt="Dr. Fauci during Friday's virtual White House virus briefing" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Fauci during Friday's virtual White House virus briefing</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Biden administration hopes to begin vaccinating younger children by late spring or early summer.The government’s top public health expert says clinical studies to determine whether approved coronavirus vaccines are safe for younger children will begin in the “next couple of months.”The results could influence the debate over how to safely reopen public schools.The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently given to health care workers, nursing home residents and older Americans weren’t tested on younger children.Biden has set a goal of reopening most schools in his first 100 days in office or near the end of April.

Dr. Fauci: May start vaccinating children by summer

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a woman remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday a day after a Kearney house fire that injured her and two police officers. 

The Kearney Hub reports that the fire was reported Thursday morning by a neighbor who spotted heavy smoke coming from the home. 

The neighbor said he saw officers who were first to arrive kick open a door to the home, and firefighters soon arrived and pulled a woman in her 70s from the burning house. 

The woman was taken with life-threatening injuries to a Kearney hospital, then to a Lincoln burn unit. 

Her name had not been released by midday Friday.

 The two officers were treated for smoke inhalation and released.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a woman remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday a day after a Kearney house fire that injured her and two police officers. The Kearney Hub reports that the fire was reported Thursday morning by a neighbor who spotted heavy smoke coming from the home. The neighbor said he saw officers who were first to arrive kick open a door to the home, and firefighters soon arrived and pulled a woman in her 70s from the burning house. The woman was taken with life-threatening injuries to a Kearney hospital, then to a Lincoln burn unit. Her name had not been released by midday Friday. The two officers were treated for smoke inhalation and released.

Woman, 2 police officers injured in Kearney house fire

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say rescue crews pulled a couple and their dog to safety after all three fell through the ice of a western Omaha lake. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports the incident happened Thursday evening on the pond at Lakeside Park. 

Authorities say the man and wife, both 30, were walking their yellow Labrador retriever when the dog ran onto the ice to chase ducks and fell through. 

Police say the husband then fell through the ice trying to rescue the dog, and the wife fell in trying to rescue her husband. 

The man and woman were taken to a hospital for treatment of hypothermia. 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say rescue crews pulled a couple and their dog to safety after all three fell through the ice of a western Omaha lake. The Omaha World-Herald reports the incident happened Thursday evening on the pond at Lakeside Park. Authorities say the man and wife, both 30, were walking their yellow Labrador retriever when the dog ran onto the ice to chase ducks and fell through. Police say the husband then fell through the ice trying to rescue the dog, and the wife fell in trying to rescue her husband. The man and woman were taken to a hospital for treatment of hypothermia. The dog was not injured.

Couple, dog rescued after falling through ice on Omaha lake

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Republicans who control the South Dakota Legislature are shrugging off a Democratic proposal for a statewide mask requirement to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

GOP members said after the bill was introduced Thursday that they would rather stay the course and allow people to decide for themselves whether to wear face coverings in public. 

Republican Rep. Kent Peterson, the House majority leader, says he doesn't favor a mandate and doesn't think the bill will get out of the House. 

Top Republicans have praised Gov. Kristi Noem’s approach of relying on personal responsibility to stop infections from spreading. 

Democrats say the bill is similar to a Sioux Falls ordinance that preceded the city's sharp decline in positive cases and hospitalizations.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Republicans who control the South Dakota Legislature are shrugging off a Democratic proposal for a statewide mask requirement to slow the spread of the coronavirus. GOP members said after the bill was introduced Thursday that they would rather stay the course and allow people to decide for themselves whether to wear face coverings in public. Republican Rep. Kent Peterson, the House majority leader, says he doesn't favor a mandate and doesn't think the bill will get out of the House. Top Republicans have praised Gov. Kristi Noem’s approach of relying on personal responsibility to stop infections from spreading. Democrats say the bill is similar to a Sioux Falls ordinance that preceded the city's sharp decline in positive cases and hospitalizations.

South Dakota Republicans scoff at mask mandate proposal

WASHINGTON — The new director of the Centers for Disease Control says officials have “scaled up” their surveillance of new <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant-cases.html">coronavirus variants in the United States.</a>

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that previously “there has not been a public health infrastructure” to track such variants. 

Also, there weren’t resources to do “mass sequencing” of the virus across the country. She noted the coronavirus aid plan pushed by the Biden Administration includes funds to improve such tracing.

However, Walensky says it was “concerning” the two South Carolina individuals who were diagnosed with the more virulent strain first identified in South Africa didn’t know each other or travel there, so the “presumption” is there’s “community spread of this strain.”

The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s almost certain that there are more infections that have not been identified yet. They are also concerned that this version spreads more easily and that vaccines could be less effective against it.

The two cases were discovered in adults in different regions of the state and do not appear to be connected. Neither of the people infected has traveled recently, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Thursday.

“That’s frightening,” because it means there could be more undetected cases within the state, said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious diseases physician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. “It’s probably more widespread.”

The arrival of the variant shows that “the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” Dr. Brannon Traxler, South Carolina’s interim public health director, said in a statement. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Every one of us must recommit to the fight by recognizing that we are all on the front lines now. We are all in this together.”

Viruses constantly mutate, and coronavirus variants are circulating around the globe, but scientists are primarily concerned with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/infectious-diseases-coronavirus-pandemic-12d1f000ed9601f99c1c7c08e020ba7b">the emergence of three&nbsp;</a>that researchers believe may spread more easily. Other variants first reported in the United Kingdom and Brazil were previously confirmed in the U.S.

As the variants bring a potential for greater infection risks in the U.S., pandemic-weary lawmakers in several states are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-maryland-tom-wolf-coronavirus-pandemic-7d5710f2d8aa4e659c0ec68400ad3d3c">pushing back against mask mandates</a>, business closures and other protective restrictions ordered by governors.

States including Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky and Indiana are weighing proposals to limit their governors’ abilities to impose emergency restrictions. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Assembly had been expected to vote to repeal Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate, but lawmakers abruptly called off the vote Thursday in the face of broad criticism and out of concern it would jeopardize more than $49 million in federal aid. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment to strip the governor of many of his emergency powers.

Governors argue that they need authority to act swiftly in a crisis, and limitations could slow critical emergency responses.

Meanwhile, Nebraska health officials said the state could be days away from lifting restrictions on indoor gatherings, citing a low percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Other states seeing declining infections are also loosening&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-public-health-gretchen-whitmer-michigan-coronavirus-pandemic-f2e1f01d695d2a017db0369d675591d4">limitations on restaurants and other businesses</a>, though experts have warned the public to stay vigilant about masks and social distancing or risk further surges.

In South Carolina, the state health agency said the variant was found in one person from the state’s coastal region and another in its northeastern corner. The state gave little other information, citing privacy concerns, though Traxler said neither of the people was contagious any longer.

“Both were tested very early in the month, and my understanding is that both are doing well,” Traxler said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, loosened most of the state’s remaining pandemic restrictions in the fall. Spokesman Brian Symmes said McMaster does not plan to order new restrictions based on the discovery of the variant.

“This is important information for South Carolinians to have,” McMaster said in a tweet, “but it isn’t a reason for panic.”

Scientists last week reported preliminary signs that some of the recent mutations may modestly curb the effectiveness of two vaccines, although they stressed that the shots still protect against the disease. There are also signs that some of the new mutations may undermine tests for the virus and reduce the effectiveness of certain treatments.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">coronavirus</a>&nbsp;has already sickened millions and killed roughly 430,000 people in the United States.

While the rollout of vaccines has been slow, President Joe Biden has pledged to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office — and suggested it’s possible the U.S. could reach&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-ap-top-news-global-trade-coronavirus-pandemic-economy-72be976a6b4f93a2d3db2feac03070d1">1.5 million shots a day.</a>

While some European countries do extensive genetic testing to detect these variants, the U.S. has done little of this detective work. But scientists have been been quickly trying to do more, which has revealed the more contagious variants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported at least 315 cases of the U.K.-discovered variant in the United States. Those reports have come from at least 28 states, and health officials believe it could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. That variant has been reported in at least 70 countries.

Full Coverage:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/tag/Coronaviruspandemic">Coronavirus pandemic</a>

The first U.S. case of the variant found in Brazil was announced earlier this week by health officials in Minnesota. It was a person who recently traveled to that South American nation. That version of the virus has popped up in more than a half-dozen countries.

The variant first found in South Africa was detected in October. Since then, it has been found in at least 30 other countries.

Some tests suggest the South African and Brazilian variants may be less susceptible to antibody drugs or antibody-rich blood from COVID-19 survivors, both of which help people fight off the virus.

Health officials also worry that if the virus changes enough, people might get COVID-19 a second time.

Biden on Monday reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, the U.K. and South Africa. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans avoid travel.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608566572342.png" alt="Image courtesy GISAID" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy GISAID</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON — The new director of the Centers for Disease Control says officials have “scaled up” their surveillance of new <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant-cases.html">coronavirus variants in the United States.</a>CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that previously “there has not been a public health infrastructure” to track such variants. Also, there weren’t resources to do “mass sequencing” of the virus across the country. She noted the coronavirus aid plan pushed by the Biden Administration includes funds to improve such tracing.However, Walensky says it was “concerning” the two South Carolina individuals who were diagnosed with the more virulent strain first identified in South Africa didn’t know each other or travel there, so the “presumption” is there’s “community spread of this strain.”The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s almost certain that there are more infections that have not been identified yet. They are also concerned that this version spreads more easily and that vaccines could be less effective against it.The two cases were discovered in adults in different regions of the state and do not appear to be connected. Neither of the people infected has traveled recently, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Thursday.“That’s frightening,” because it means there could be more undetected cases within the state, said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious diseases physician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. “It’s probably more widespread.”The arrival of the variant shows that “the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” Dr. Brannon Traxler, South Carolina’s interim public health director, said in a statement. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Every one of us must recommit to the fight by recognizing that we are all on the front lines now. We are all in this together.”Viruses constantly mutate, and coronavirus variants are circulating around the globe, but scientists are primarily concerned with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/infectious-diseases-coronavirus-pandemic-12d1f000ed9601f99c1c7c08e020ba7b">the emergence of three&nbsp;</a>that researchers believe may spread more easily. Other variants first reported in the United Kingdom and Brazil were previously confirmed in the U.S.As the variants bring a potential for greater infection risks in the U.S., pandemic-weary lawmakers in several states are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-maryland-tom-wolf-coronavirus-pandemic-7d5710f2d8aa4e659c0ec68400ad3d3c">pushing back against mask mandates</a>, business closures and other protective restrictions ordered by governors.States including Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky and Indiana are weighing proposals to limit their governors’ abilities to impose emergency restrictions. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Assembly had been expected to vote to repeal Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate, but lawmakers abruptly called off the vote Thursday in the face of broad criticism and out of concern it would jeopardize more than $49 million in federal aid. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment to strip the governor of many of his emergency powers.Governors argue that they need authority to act swiftly in a crisis, and limitations could slow critical emergency responses.Meanwhile, Nebraska health officials said the state could be days away from lifting restrictions on indoor gatherings, citing a low percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Other states seeing declining infections are also loosening&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-public-health-gretchen-whitmer-michigan-coronavirus-pandemic-f2e1f01d695d2a017db0369d675591d4">limitations on restaurants and other businesses</a>, though experts have warned the public to stay vigilant about masks and social distancing or risk further surges.In South Carolina, the state health agency said the variant was found in one person from the state’s coastal region and another in its northeastern corner. The state gave little other information, citing privacy concerns, though Traxler said neither of the people was contagious any longer.“Both were tested very early in the month, and my understanding is that both are doing well,” Traxler said.South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, loosened most of the state’s remaining pandemic restrictions in the fall. Spokesman Brian Symmes said McMaster does not plan to order new restrictions based on the discovery of the variant.“This is important information for South Carolinians to have,” McMaster said in a tweet, “but it isn’t a reason for panic.”Scientists last week reported preliminary signs that some of the recent mutations may modestly curb the effectiveness of two vaccines, although they stressed that the shots still protect against the disease. There are also signs that some of the new mutations may undermine tests for the virus and reduce the effectiveness of certain treatments.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">coronavirus</a>&nbsp;has already sickened millions and killed roughly 430,000 people in the United States.While the rollout of vaccines has been slow, President Joe Biden has pledged to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office — and suggested it’s possible the U.S. could reach&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-ap-top-news-global-trade-coronavirus-pandemic-economy-72be976a6b4f93a2d3db2feac03070d1">1.5 million shots a day.</a>While some European countries do extensive genetic testing to detect these variants, the U.S. has done little of this detective work. But scientists have been been quickly trying to do more, which has revealed the more contagious variants.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported at least 315 cases of the U.K.-discovered variant in the United States. Those reports have come from at least 28 states, and health officials believe it could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. That variant has been reported in at least 70 countries.Full Coverage:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/tag/Coronaviruspandemic">Coronavirus pandemic</a>The first U.S. case of the variant found in Brazil was announced earlier this week by health officials in Minnesota. It was a person who recently traveled to that South American nation. That version of the virus has popped up in more than a half-dozen countries.The variant first found in South Africa was detected in October. Since then, it has been found in at least 30 other countries.Some tests suggest the South African and Brazilian variants may be less susceptible to antibody drugs or antibody-rich blood from COVID-19 survivors, both of which help people fight off the virus.Health officials also worry that if the virus changes enough, people might get COVID-19 a second time.Biden on Monday reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, the U.K. and South Africa. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans avoid travel.

CDC struggles to track dangerous COVID-19 variants

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old Missouri woman has been sentenced to five to 20 years in prison for her role in a stabbing death in Nebraska. 

Krystal Martin, of Hawk Point, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to being an accessory in the June 26, 2018, death of Brent Quigley during a robbery at his home in Bellevue. 

Martin and her boyfriend, Raymond Davis, of Des Moines, Iowa, fled to Chicago before being arrested in Troy, Missouri. 

Davis will be sentenced next month after he was found guilty of first-degree murder and two other counts in Quigley's death. 

Three other people also were charged in the case.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old Missouri woman has been sentenced to five to 20 years in prison for her role in a stabbing death in Nebraska. Krystal Martin, of Hawk Point, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to being an accessory in the June 26, 2018, death of Brent Quigley during a robbery at his home in Bellevue. Martin and her boyfriend, Raymond Davis, of Des Moines, Iowa, fled to Chicago before being arrested in Troy, Missouri. Davis will be sentenced next month after he was found guilty of first-degree murder and two other counts in Quigley's death. Three other people also were charged in the case.

Missouri woman sentenced for role in Nebraska stabbing death

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in Congress and the White House have rejected a Republican pitch to split President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-coronavirus-action-plan-3d8d5841bb9098a81ad9452fb2619024">$1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan</a>&nbsp;into smaller chunks, with lawmakers appearing primed to muscle the sweeping economic and virus aid forward without GOP help.

Despite Biden’s calls for unity, Democrats said the stubbornly high unemployment numbers and battered U.S. economy leave them unwilling to waste time courting Republican support that might not materialize. They also don’t want to curb the size and scope of a package that they say will provide desperately needed money to distribute the vaccine, reopen schools and send cash to American households and businesses.

Biden has been appealing directly to Republican and Democratic lawmakers while signaling his priority to press ahead.

“We’ve got a lot to do, and the first thing we’ve got to do is get this COVID package passed,” Biden said Thursday in the Oval Office.

The standoff over Biden’s first legislative priority is turning the new rescue plan into a political test — of his new administration, of Democratic control of Congress and of the role of Republicans in a post-Trump political landscape.

Success would give Biden a signature accomplishment in his first 100 days in office, unleashing $400 billion to expand vaccinations and to reopen schools, $1,400 direct payments to households, and other priorities, including a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Failure would be a high-profile setback early in his presidency.

Democrats in the House and Senate are operating as though they know they are borrowed time. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are laying the groundwork to start the go-it-alone approach as soon as next week.

They are drafting a budget reconciliation bill that would start the process to pass the relief package with a simple 51-vote Senate majority — rather than the 60-vote threshold typically needed in the Senate to advance legislation. The goal would be passage by March, when jobless benefits, housing assistance and other aid is set to expire.

Schumer said he drew from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s advice to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/janet-yellen-confirmation-hearing-bdbc5217e582aaacbf668bc639dd72d5">“act big”&nbsp;</a>to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis.

“Everywhere you look, alarm bells are ringing,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

Senate Republicans in a bipartisan group warned their colleagues in a “frank” conversation late Wednesday that Biden and Democrats are making a mistake by loading up the aid bill with other priorities and jamming it through Congress without their support, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a former White House budget director under George W. Bush, wants a deeper accounting of what funds remain from the $900 billion coronavirus aid package from December.

“Literally, the money has not gone out the door,” he said. “I’m not sure I understand why there’s a grave emergency right now.”

Biden spoke directly with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is leading the bipartisan effort with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., that is racing to strike a compromise.

Collins said she and the president had a “good conversation.”

“We both expressed our shared belief that it is possible for the Senate to work in a bipartisan way to get things done for the people of this country,” she said.

The emerging debate is highly reminiscent of the partisan divide over the 2009 financial rescue in the early months of the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president, echoing those battles over the appropriate level of government intervention.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that although Biden wants a bipartisan package, the administration is opposed to breaking it up to win Republican support.

“We’re open for business and open to hear from members of Congress on that,” she said, noting that lawmakers are not “wallflowers.”

But, she said, “we’re not going to do this in a piecemeal way or break apart a big package that’s meant to address the crisis we’re facing.”

On Thursday, more than 120 economists and policymakers signed a&nbsp;<a href="https://investinamericanow.com/economist-letter/" target="_blank">letter</a>&nbsp;in support of Biden’s package, saying the $900 billion that Congress approved in December before he took office was “too little and too late to address the enormity of the deteriorating situation.”

Employers shed workers in December, retail sales have slumped and COVID-19 deaths kept rising. More than 430,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus as of Thursday.

At the same time, the number of Americans applying for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-jobless-claims-coronavirus-pandemic-united-states-00d5212fdfc69c630b807bbe35bfe933">unemployment benefits</a>&nbsp;remained at a historically high 847,000 last week, and a new report said the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-shrink-in-2020-b59f9be06dcf1da924f64afde2ce094c">economy shrunk&nbsp;</a>by an alarming 3.5% last year.

“The risks of going too small dramatically outweigh the risks of going too big,” said Gene Sperling, a former director of the White House National Economic Council, who signed the letter.

The government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-shrink-in-2020-b59f9be06dcf1da924f64afde2ce094c">reported Thursday</a>&nbsp;that the economy showed dangerous signs of stalling in the final three months of last year, ultimately shrinking in size by 3.5% for the whole of 2020 — the sharpest downturn since the demobilization that followed the end of World War II.

The decline was not as severe as initially feared, largely because the government has steered roughly $4 trillion in aid, an unprecedented emergency expenditure, to keep millions of Americans housed, fed, employed and able to pay down debt and build savings amid the crisis.

Republican allies touted the 4% annualized growth during the last quarter, with economic analyst Stephen Moore calling the gains “amazing.”

Republicans have also raised concerns about adding to the deficit, which skyrocketed in the Trump administration.

Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking party leader, said Biden should stick to the call for unity he outlined in his inaugural address, particularly with the evenly split Senate. “If there’s ever been a mandate to move to the middle, it’s this,” he said. “It’s not let’s just go off the cliff.”

But Democrats argue that low interest rates make the debt manageable and that the possibility of returning to work will do more to improve people’s well-being.

The days and weeks ahead, against the backdrop of Trump’s impeachment trial on a charge of inciting an insurrection with the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">U.S. Capitol siege</a>, will set the tone, tenor and parameters of what will be possible in Washington.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1611265778286.png" alt="“We’ve got a lot to do, and the first thing we’ve got to do is get this COVID package passed,” Biden said Thursday in the Oval Office." />
 <figcaption>“We’ve got a lot to do, and the first thing we’ve got to do is get this COVID package passed,” Biden said Thursday in the Oval Office.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in Congress and the White House have rejected a Republican pitch to split President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-coronavirus-action-plan-3d8d5841bb9098a81ad9452fb2619024">$1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan</a>&nbsp;into smaller chunks, with lawmakers appearing primed to muscle the sweeping economic and virus aid forward without GOP help.Despite Biden’s calls for unity, Democrats said the stubbornly high unemployment numbers and battered U.S. economy leave them unwilling to waste time courting Republican support that might not materialize. They also don’t want to curb the size and scope of a package that they say will provide desperately needed money to distribute the vaccine, reopen schools and send cash to American households and businesses.Biden has been appealing directly to Republican and Democratic lawmakers while signaling his priority to press ahead.“We’ve got a lot to do, and the first thing we’ve got to do is get this COVID package passed,” Biden said Thursday in the Oval Office.The standoff over Biden’s first legislative priority is turning the new rescue plan into a political test — of his new administration, of Democratic control of Congress and of the role of Republicans in a post-Trump political landscape.Success would give Biden a signature accomplishment in his first 100 days in office, unleashing $400 billion to expand vaccinations and to reopen schools, $1,400 direct payments to households, and other priorities, including a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Failure would be a high-profile setback early in his presidency.Democrats in the House and Senate are operating as though they know they are borrowed time. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are laying the groundwork to start the go-it-alone approach as soon as next week.They are drafting a budget reconciliation bill that would start the process to pass the relief package with a simple 51-vote Senate majority — rather than the 60-vote threshold typically needed in the Senate to advance legislation. The goal would be passage by March, when jobless benefits, housing assistance and other aid is set to expire.Schumer said he drew from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s advice to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/janet-yellen-confirmation-hearing-bdbc5217e582aaacbf668bc639dd72d5">“act big”&nbsp;</a>to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis.“Everywhere you look, alarm bells are ringing,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.Senate Republicans in a bipartisan group warned their colleagues in a “frank” conversation late Wednesday that Biden and Democrats are making a mistake by loading up the aid bill with other priorities and jamming it through Congress without their support, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session.Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a former White House budget director under George W. Bush, wants a deeper accounting of what funds remain from the $900 billion coronavirus aid package from December.“Literally, the money has not gone out the door,” he said. “I’m not sure I understand why there’s a grave emergency right now.”Biden spoke directly with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is leading the bipartisan effort with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., that is racing to strike a compromise.Collins said she and the president had a “good conversation.”“We both expressed our shared belief that it is possible for the Senate to work in a bipartisan way to get things done for the people of this country,” she said.The emerging debate is highly reminiscent of the partisan divide over the 2009 financial rescue in the early months of the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president, echoing those battles over the appropriate level of government intervention.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that although Biden wants a bipartisan package, the administration is opposed to breaking it up to win Republican support.“We’re open for business and open to hear from members of Congress on that,” she said, noting that lawmakers are not “wallflowers.”But, she said, “we’re not going to do this in a piecemeal way or break apart a big package that’s meant to address the crisis we’re facing.”On Thursday, more than 120 economists and policymakers signed a&nbsp;<a href="https://investinamericanow.com/economist-letter/" target="_blank">letter</a>&nbsp;in support of Biden’s package, saying the $900 billion that Congress approved in December before he took office was “too little and too late to address the enormity of the deteriorating situation.”Employers shed workers in December, retail sales have slumped and COVID-19 deaths kept rising. More than 430,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus as of Thursday.At the same time, the number of Americans applying for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-jobless-claims-coronavirus-pandemic-united-states-00d5212fdfc69c630b807bbe35bfe933">unemployment benefits</a>&nbsp;remained at a historically high 847,000 last week, and a new report said the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-shrink-in-2020-b59f9be06dcf1da924f64afde2ce094c">economy shrunk&nbsp;</a>by an alarming 3.5% last year.“The risks of going too small dramatically outweigh the risks of going too big,” said Gene Sperling, a former director of the White House National Economic Council, who signed the letter.The government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-shrink-in-2020-b59f9be06dcf1da924f64afde2ce094c">reported Thursday</a>&nbsp;that the economy showed dangerous signs of stalling in the final three months of last year, ultimately shrinking in size by 3.5% for the whole of 2020 — the sharpest downturn since the demobilization that followed the end of World War II.The decline was not as severe as initially feared, largely because the government has steered roughly $4 trillion in aid, an unprecedented emergency expenditure, to keep millions of Americans housed, fed, employed and able to pay down debt and build savings amid the crisis.Republican allies touted the 4% annualized growth during the last quarter, with economic analyst Stephen Moore calling the gains “amazing.”Republicans have also raised concerns about adding to the deficit, which skyrocketed in the Trump administration.Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking party leader, said Biden should stick to the call for unity he outlined in his inaugural address, particularly with the evenly split Senate. “If there’s ever been a mandate to move to the middle, it’s this,” he said. “It’s not let’s just go off the cliff.”But Democrats argue that low interest rates make the debt manageable and that the possibility of returning to work will do more to improve people’s well-being.The days and weeks ahead, against the backdrop of Trump’s impeachment trial on a charge of inciting an insurrection with the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">U.S. Capitol siege</a>, will set the tone, tenor and parameters of what will be possible in Washington.

Standoff: Lawmakers battle over $1.9T COVID-19 relief deal

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has agreed to pay millions more to a troubled Kansas-based foster care contractor that was rapidly running out of money after significantly underbidding the company that used to provide child welfare services in the Omaha area.

 KMTV reports that the total cost of the new 25-month contract with St. Francis Ministries totals more than $147 million.

 St. Francis won the Nebraska job in 2019 by offering to do it for less than 60% of the bid from PromiseShip, the Omaha-based agency that held the previous contract.

   At the time, PromiseShip executives and some state lawmakers questioned how St. Francis could provide care in Douglas and Sarpy Counties for that much less money. As it turned out, they couldn’t.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has agreed to pay millions more to a troubled Kansas-based foster care contractor that was rapidly running out of money after significantly underbidding the company that used to provide child welfare services in the Omaha area. KMTV reports that the total cost of the new 25-month contract with St. Francis Ministries totals more than $147 million. St. Francis won the Nebraska job in 2019 by offering to do it for less than 60% of the bid from PromiseShip, the Omaha-based agency that held the previous contract. At the time, PromiseShip executives and some state lawmakers questioned how St. Francis could provide care in Douglas and Sarpy Counties for that much less money. As it turned out, they couldn’t.

Troubled foster care agency gets big boost from Nebraska

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered government health insurance markets to reopen for a special sign-up window, offering uninsured Americans a haven as the spread of COVID-19 remains dangerously high and vaccines aren't yet widely available.

<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/28/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-orders-strengthening-americans-access-to-quality-affordable-health-care/">Click here to read</a> the executive order

Biden signed an executive order directing the HealthCare.gov insurance markets to take new applications for subsidized benefits, something Donald Trump's administration had refused to do. He also instructed his administration to consider reversing other Trump health care policies, including curbs on abortion counseling and the imposition of work requirements for low-income people getting Medicaid.

“There’s nothing new that we’re doing here other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring Medicaid to the way it was before Trump became president,” Biden said as he signed the directives in the Oval Office. He declared he was reversing “my predecessor’s attack on women’s health."

The actions were only the first steps by Biden, who has promised to build out former President Barack Obama’s health care law to achieve a goal of coverage for all. While Biden rejects the idea of a government-run system that Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed for in his “Medicare for All” proposal, his more centrist approach will require congressional buy-in. But opposition to “Obamacare” runs deep among Republicans.

The most concrete short-term impact of Biden's orders will come from reopening HealthCare.gov insurance markets as coverage has shrunk in the economic turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic. That's an executive action and no legislation is required.

The new “special enrollment period” will begin Feb. 15 and run through May 15, the White House said. It will be coupled with a promotional campaign and a call for states that run their own insurance markets to match the federal sign-up opportunity.

The Biden administration has ample resources for marketing, said Karen Pollitz, a health insurance expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. The foundation estimates that the Trump administration left unspent about $1.2 billion in user fees collected from insurers to help pay for running the marketplaces.

“The reason it wasn’t spent is the Trump administration spent its time in office cutting services that support consumer enrollment,” Pollitz said. “All the while the user fee revenue was coming in, (but) they were not allowed to spend it on anything other than marketplace operations.”

Created under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, the marketplaces offer taxpayer-subsidized coverage regardless of a person’s medical history or preexisting conditions, including COVID-19.

Biden also ordered the immediate reversal of a federal policy that bars taxpayer funding for international health care nonprofits that promote or provide abortions. Known as the Mexico City Policy, it can be switched on or off depending on whether Democrats or Republicans control the White House. Abortion rights supporters call it the “global gag rule.”

Other directives Biden issued could take months to carry out.

He instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to consider rescinding Trump regulations that bar federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions.

HHS will also reexamine a Trump administration policy that allows states to impose work requirements as a condition for low-income people to get Medicaid health insurance. Work requirements have been blocked by federal courts, which found that they led to thousands of people losing coverage and violated Medicaid's legal charge to provide medical services. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the issue.

And Biden directed HHS to review Trump policies that could undermine protections for people with health problems, such as a rule that facilitated the sale of short-term health insurance plans that don't have to cover preexisting medical conditions.

Such changes cannot happen overnight. Rescinding a federal regulation requires a new regulation, which has to follow an established legal process that involves considering different sides of an issue.

Former Trump health policy adviser Brian Blase said the Biden administration has to take care it doesn't throw out some policies intended to help solidly middle-class people who don't qualify for financial assistance under Obama's law.

“Obamacare plans are generally only attractive to people who receive large subsidies to buy them,” said Blase. He cited a Trump policy that allows employers to provide tax-free money for workers to buy individual plans.

The abortion-related actions brought Biden immediate praise from women's rights groups, as well as condemnation from social and religious conservatives. Under President Trump, abortion opponents had free rein to try to rewrite federal policy, but now the political pendulum has swung back. Trump's abortion counseling restrictions led Planned Parenthood affiliates to leave the federal family planning program.

Biden campaigned on repealing longstanding federal prohibitions against taxpayer funding for most abortions, but that was not part of Thursday's orders. A change of that magnitude to a group of laws known as the Hyde Amendment would require congressional approval.

Biden's nominee for health secretary, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, but the White House said that will not stop health agencies from immediately going to work on the president's directives.

The idea of reopening Obamacare's health insurance markets in the pandemic has had broad support from consumer, medical, and business organizations. The main insurer trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, applauded Biden's move.

As the number of uninsured Americans grew because of job losses in the pandemic, the Trump administration resisted calls to reopen HealthCare.gov. Failure to repeal and replace Obamacare was one of the former president's most bitter disappointments. His administration continued trying to find ways to limit the program or unravel it entirely. A Supreme Court decision on Trump’s final legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is expected this year.

Experts agree that number of uninsured people has risen because of layoffs in the coronavirus economy, but authoritative estimates await government studies due later this year. While some estimates cite 5 million to 10 million newly uninsured people, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says its analysis suggests a smaller number.

Nonetheless, the CBO projects that nearly 32 million Americans are uninsured and of those, about 2 in 3 are eligible for some kind of subsidized coverage.

The Obama-era health care law covers more than 23 million people through a mix of subsidized private insurance sold in all states, and expanded Medicaid adopted by 38 states.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1611863114554.png" alt="President Joe Biden after signing the executive order on Thursday -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>President Joe Biden after signing the executive order on Thursday -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered government health insurance markets to reopen for a special sign-up window, offering uninsured Americans a haven as the spread of COVID-19 remains dangerously high and vaccines aren't yet widely available.<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/28/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-orders-strengthening-americans-access-to-quality-affordable-health-care/">Click here to read</a> the executive orderBiden signed an executive order directing the HealthCare.gov insurance markets to take new applications for subsidized benefits, something Donald Trump's administration had refused to do. He also instructed his administration to consider reversing other Trump health care policies, including curbs on abortion counseling and the imposition of work requirements for low-income people getting Medicaid.“There’s nothing new that we’re doing here other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring Medicaid to the way it was before Trump became president,” Biden said as he signed the directives in the Oval Office. He declared he was reversing “my predecessor’s attack on women’s health."The actions were only the first steps by Biden, who has promised to build out former President Barack Obama’s health care law to achieve a goal of coverage for all. While Biden rejects the idea of a government-run system that Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed for in his “Medicare for All” proposal, his more centrist approach will require congressional buy-in. But opposition to “Obamacare” runs deep among Republicans.The most concrete short-term impact of Biden's orders will come from reopening HealthCare.gov insurance markets as coverage has shrunk in the economic turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic. That's an executive action and no legislation is required.The new “special enrollment period” will begin Feb. 15 and run through May 15, the White House said. It will be coupled with a promotional campaign and a call for states that run their own insurance markets to match the federal sign-up opportunity.The Biden administration has ample resources for marketing, said Karen Pollitz, a health insurance expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. The foundation estimates that the Trump administration left unspent about $1.2 billion in user fees collected from insurers to help pay for running the marketplaces.“The reason it wasn’t spent is the Trump administration spent its time in office cutting services that support consumer enrollment,” Pollitz said. “All the while the user fee revenue was coming in, (but) they were not allowed to spend it on anything other than marketplace operations.”Created under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, the marketplaces offer taxpayer-subsidized coverage regardless of a person’s medical history or preexisting conditions, including COVID-19.Biden also ordered the immediate reversal of a federal policy that bars taxpayer funding for international health care nonprofits that promote or provide abortions. Known as the Mexico City Policy, it can be switched on or off depending on whether Democrats or Republicans control the White House. Abortion rights supporters call it the “global gag rule.”Other directives Biden issued could take months to carry out.He instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to consider rescinding Trump regulations that bar federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions.HHS will also reexamine a Trump administration policy that allows states to impose work requirements as a condition for low-income people to get Medicaid health insurance. Work requirements have been blocked by federal courts, which found that they led to thousands of people losing coverage and violated Medicaid's legal charge to provide medical services. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the issue.And Biden directed HHS to review Trump policies that could undermine protections for people with health problems, such as a rule that facilitated the sale of short-term health insurance plans that don't have to cover preexisting medical conditions.Such changes cannot happen overnight. Rescinding a federal regulation requires a new regulation, which has to follow an established legal process that involves considering different sides of an issue.Former Trump health policy adviser Brian Blase said the Biden administration has to take care it doesn't throw out some policies intended to help solidly middle-class people who don't qualify for financial assistance under Obama's law.“Obamacare plans are generally only attractive to people who receive large subsidies to buy them,” said Blase. He cited a Trump policy that allows employers to provide tax-free money for workers to buy individual plans.The abortion-related actions brought Biden immediate praise from women's rights groups, as well as condemnation from social and religious conservatives. Under President Trump, abortion opponents had free rein to try to rewrite federal policy, but now the political pendulum has swung back. Trump's abortion counseling restrictions led Planned Parenthood affiliates to leave the federal family planning program.Biden campaigned on repealing longstanding federal prohibitions against taxpayer funding for most abortions, but that was not part of Thursday's orders. A change of that magnitude to a group of laws known as the Hyde Amendment would require congressional approval.Biden's nominee for health secretary, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, but the White House said that will not stop health agencies from immediately going to work on the president's directives.The idea of reopening Obamacare's health insurance markets in the pandemic has had broad support from consumer, medical, and business organizations. The main insurer trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, applauded Biden's move.As the number of uninsured Americans grew because of job losses in the pandemic, the Trump administration resisted calls to reopen HealthCare.gov. Failure to repeal and replace Obamacare was one of the former president's most bitter disappointments. His administration continued trying to find ways to limit the program or unravel it entirely. A Supreme Court decision on Trump’s final legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is expected this year.Experts agree that number of uninsured people has risen because of layoffs in the coronavirus economy, but authoritative estimates await government studies due later this year. While some estimates cite 5 million to 10 million newly uninsured people, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says its analysis suggests a smaller number.Nonetheless, the CBO projects that nearly 32 million Americans are uninsured and of those, about 2 in 3 are eligible for some kind of subsidized coverage.The Obama-era health care law covers more than 23 million people through a mix of subsidized private insurance sold in all states, and expanded Medicaid adopted by 38 states.

Biden reopens Obamacare sign-up window for uninsured 

GRAND ISLAND&nbsp; — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) have arrested a California man after locating 60 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in York County.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, a trooper observed an eastbound Mitsubishi Outlander following a semi too closely on I-80 near Bradshaw, at mile marker 348. During the traffic stop, the trooper became suspicious of criminal activity. A search of the vehicle revealed 60 pounds of marijuana inside the vehicle.

The driver, Heliodoro Maya-Antonio, 34, of Oxnard, California, was arrested for possession of marijuana – more than one pound, possession with intent to deliver, and no drug tax stamp. 

Maya-Antonio was lodged in York County Jail.

GRAND ISLAND&nbsp; — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) have arrested a California man after locating 60 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in York County.At approximately 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, a trooper observed an eastbound Mitsubishi Outlander following a semi too closely on I-80 near Bradshaw, at mile marker 348. During the traffic stop, the trooper became suspicious of criminal activity. A search of the vehicle revealed 60 pounds of marijuana inside the vehicle.The driver, Heliodoro Maya-Antonio, 34, of Oxnard, California, was arrested for possession of marijuana – more than one pound, possession with intent to deliver, and no drug tax stamp. Maya-Antonio was lodged in York County Jail.

Troopers find 60 LBs of marijuana in I-80 traffic stop

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man at a church social hall. 

Police say in a news release that officers were called late Wednesday night to Our Lady of Guadalupe Social Hall in south Omaha to check on a person.

 Arriving officers found the body of a man on the grounds. 

Police have not released the man's name or any details about how he died.

 The Rev. Bill Bond tells the Omaha World-Herald that the man’s body was found in a storage shed at the back of the social hall’s parking lot. 

Bond says the storage shed had been broken into recently and homeless people were using it.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man at a church social hall. Police say in a news release that officers were called late Wednesday night to Our Lady of Guadalupe Social Hall in south Omaha to check on a person. Arriving officers found the body of a man on the grounds. Police have not released the man's name or any details about how he died. The Rev. Bill Bond tells the Omaha World-Herald that the man’s body was found in a storage shed at the back of the social hall’s parking lot. Bond says the storage shed had been broken into recently and homeless people were using it.