OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two separate lawsuits are asking the city of Omaha to pay in the deaths of women killed in separate accidents in 2018.

 The Omaha World-Herald reports that in the first case, 25-year-old Patty Leahy’s car was struck by an unlicensed driver who ran a red light on Oct. 8, 2018. 

The wrongful death lawsuit questions whether Jeffries had difficulty seeing the stoplight because of a pedestrian overpass nearby. 

Two weeks later, 76-year-old Marjorie Thurber fell on the sidewalk. 

A city attorney says the property owner — not the city — must maintain the sidewalk.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two separate lawsuits are asking the city of Omaha to pay in the deaths of women killed in separate accidents in 2018. The Omaha World-Herald reports that in the first case, 25-year-old Patty Leahy’s car was struck by an unlicensed driver who ran a red light on Oct. 8, 2018. The wrongful death lawsuit questions whether Jeffries had difficulty seeing the stoplight because of a pedestrian overpass nearby. The city wants the case dismissed. Two weeks later, 76-year-old Marjorie Thurber fell on the sidewalk. She died five days later. A city attorney says the property owner — not the city — must maintain the sidewalk.

City of Omaha dealing with 2 separate wrongful death suits

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Sunday, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.

<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-from-the-president-122720/">Click here to read</a> the full statement from President Trump.

The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as an increase in food stamp benefits.

The signing, at his private club in Florida, came amid escalating criticism over his eleventh-hour demands for larger, $2,000 relief checks and scaled-back spending even though the bill had already passed the House and Senate by wide margins. The bill was passed with what lawmakers had thought was Trump’s blessing, and after months of negotiations with his administration.

His foot-dragging resulted in a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions struggling to make ends meet and threatened a government shutdown in the midst of a pandemic.. But signing the bill into law prevents another crisis of Trump’s own creation and ends a standoff with his own party during the final days of his administration.

It was unclear what, if anything, Trump accomplished with his delay, beyond angering all sides and empowering Democrats to continue their push for higher relief checks, which his own party opposes.

<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-from-the-president-122720/">In his statement,</a> Trump repeated his frustrations with the COVID-19 relief bill for providing only $600 checks to most Americans instead of the $2,000 that his fellow Republicans already rejected. He also complained about what he considered unnecessary spending by the government at large.

“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Trump said in the statement.

While the president insisted he would send Congress “a redlined version” with items to be removed under the rescission process, those are merely suggestions to Congress. The bill, as signed, would not necessarily be changed.

Democrats, who have the majority in the House, immediately vowed to prevent any cuts. Democrats “will reject any rescissions” submitted by the president, said Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. , in a statement.

Lawmakers now have breathing room to continue debating whether the relief checks should be as large as the president has demanded. The Democratic-led House supports the larger checks and is set to vote on the issue Monday, but it’s expected to be ignored by the Republican-held Senate where spending faces opposition. For now, the administration can only begin work sending out the $600 payments.

Republicans and Democrats swiftly welcomed Trump’s decision to sign the bill into law.

“The compromise bill is not perfect, but it will do an enormous amount of good for struggling Kentuckians and Americans across the country who need help now,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “I thank the President for signing this relief into law.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the signing “welcome news for the fourteen million Americans who just lost the lifeline of unemployment benefits on Christmas weekend, and for the millions more struggling to stay afloat during this historic pandemic and economic crisis.”

But others slammed Trump’s delay in turning the bill into law. In a tweet, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused Trump of having “played Russian roulette with American lives. A familiar and comfortable place for him.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would offer Trump’s proposal for $2,000 checks for a vote in Senate — putting Republicans on the spot.

“The House will pass a bill to give Americans $2,000 checks. Then I will move to pass it in the Senate,” Schumer tweeted. “No Democrats will object. Will Senate Republicans?”

Democrats are promising more aid to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see approach.

Congress will push ahead Monday, with the House expected to vote to override Trump’s veto of an annual must-pass Defense bill, confronting the president on another big issue in the final days of the session. The Senate is expected to follow on Tuesday.

In the face of growing economic hardship, spreading disease and a looming shutdown, lawmakers spent Sunday urging Trump to sign the legislation immediately, then have Congress follow up with additional aid. Aside from unemployment benefits and relief payments to families, money for vaccine distribution, businesses and more was on the line. Protections against evictions also hung in the balance.

“What the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “So many people are hurting. ... It is really insane and this president has got to finally ... do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said he understood that Trump “wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he’ll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire.”

Toomey added: “So I think the best thing to do, as I said, sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation.”

The same point was echoed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who’s criticized Trump’s pandemic response and his efforts to undo the election results. “I just gave up guessing what he might do next,” he said.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said too much is at stake for Trump to “play this old switcheroo game.”

“I don’t get the point,” he said. “I don’t understand what’s being done, why, unless it’s just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election.”

Washington had been reeling since Trump turned on the deal. Fingers pointed at administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as lawmakers tried to understand whether they were misled about Trump’s position.

“Now to be put in a lurch, after the president’s own person negotiated something that the president doesn’t want, it’s just — it’s surprising,” Kinzinger said.

Kinzinger spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Hogan and Sanders on ABC’s “This Week.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals.

A congressional Republican aide tells The Associated Press that the president has signed the measure.

According to Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere who released a Statement from the President &nbsp;“As President, I have told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child.”

The President is sending a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. Sending back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.&nbsp;The President is signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more.

"On Monday the House will vote to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000. Therefore, a family of four would receive $5,200. Additionally, Congress has promised that Section 230, which so unfairly benefits Big Tech at the expense of the American people, will be reviewed and either be terminated or substantially reformed.

The Senate will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeals Section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud," according to the deputy press secretary.

The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems and an increase in food stamp benefits. Democrats are promising more aid to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see approach.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump appeared no closer to signing an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill Sunday as unemployment aid expired, the government barrels toward a mid-pandemic shutdown and lawmakers implored him to break the impasse he created after Congress approved the deal.

Trump blindsided members of both parties with a demand for larger COVID relief checks, imperiling not only a massive package of economic and public-health assistance but the basic functions of government itself.

The package passed with wide margins in the House and Senate and with the understanding of members of both parties that Trump supported it. Now, the federal government will run out of money at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday if Trump refuses to sign the bill in time as he spends the holidays in Florida.

In the face of economic hardship and spreading disease, lawmakers urged Trump on Sunday to sign the legislation immediately, then have Congress follow up with more. Aside from unemployment benefits and relief payments to families, money for vaccine distribution, businesses, cash-starved public transit systems and more is on the line. Protections against evictions also hang in the balance.

“What the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel,” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said Sunday. “So many people are hurting. ... It is really insane and this president has got to finally ... do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, with more measured words, agreed Trump should sign the bill, then make the case for more. “We’ve got a bill right now that his administration helped negotiate,” he said. “I think we ought to get that done.”

Trump was spending Sunday golfing at his West Palm Beach course.

He has given no indication he plans to sign the bill as he spends the last days of his presidency in a rage. Indeed, his dissatisfaction with the legislation seems only to have grown in recent days as he has criticized it both privately to club members and publicly on Twitter.

As the impasse dragged on, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health warned that the country is at a “critical point” in COVID-19 infections, with the Christmas and New Year’s holidays posing the threat of a “surge upon a surge” as people congregate with families and others, against the advice of public-health officials.

“As we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Days ago, Democrats said they would call House lawmakers back to Washington for a vote Monday on Trump’s proposal to send out $2,000 relief checks, instead of the $600 approved by Congress. The idea is likely to die in the Republican-controlled Senate. Democrats were also considering a vote Monday on a stop-gap measure aimed at keeping the government running until Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20.

Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal, without warning, after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed despite the pandemic gripping the nation.

The impact of the sidelined aid is already being felt. Lauren Bauer of the Brookings Institution has calculated that at least 11 million people were losing aid from the programs immediately without additional relief; millions more would exhaust other unemployment benefits within weeks.

How and when people would be affected by the lapse depended on the state they lived in, the program they were relying on and when they applied for benefits.

In some states, people on regular unemployment insurance would continue to receive payments under a program that extends benefits when the jobless rate surpassed a certain threshold, said Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank.

About 9.5 million people, however, had been relying on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that expired altogether Saturday. That program made unemployment insurance available to freelancers, gig workers and others who were normally not eligible. After receiving their last checks, those recipients would not be able to file for more aid, Stettner said.

The relief was attached to a $1.4 trillion government funding bill to keep the federal government operating through September, which would mean that failing to sign it by Tuesday would trigger a federal shutdown.

“Now to be put in a lurch, after the president’s own person negotiated something that the president doesn’t want, it’s just -- it’s surprising,” Kinzinger said. “But we will have to find a way out.”

Kinzinger and Fauci spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Hogan and Sanders on ABC’s “This Week.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight as President Donald Trump refused to sign an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections.

The fate of the bipartisan package remained in limbo Sunday as Trump continued to demand larger COVID relief checks and complained about “pork” spending. Without the widespread funding provided by the massive measure, a government shutdown would occur when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

“It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stood to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signed the package into law or succeeded in his improbable quest for changes.

Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.

“I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” Trump tweeted Saturday from Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the holiday. “Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork.’”

President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill immediately as the midnight Saturday deadline neared for two federal programs providing unemployment aid.

“It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don’t know if they’ll be able to make ends meet because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to sign an economic relief bill approved by Congress with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority,” Biden said in a statement. He accused Trump of an “abdication of responsibility” that has “devastating consequences.”

“I’ve been talking to people who are scared they’re going to be kicked out from their homes, during the Christmas holidays, and still might be if we don’t sign this bill,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat.

Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, has calculated that 11 million people would lose aid from the programs immediately without additional relief; millions more would exhaust other unemployment benefits within weeks.

Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank, said the number may be closer to 14 million because joblessness has spiked since Thanksgiving.

“All these folks and their families will suffer if Trump doesn’t sign the damn bill,” Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, tweeted Wednesday.

How and when people would be affected by the lapse depended on the state they lived in, the program they were relying on and when they applied for benefits. In some states, people on regular unemployment insurance would continue to receive payments under a program that extends benefits when the jobless rate surpassed a certain threshold, Stettner said.

While payments could be received retroactively, any gap would mean more hardship and uncertainty for Americans who had already grappled with bureaucratic delays, often depleting much of their savings to stay afloat while waiting for payments to kick in.

They were people like Earl McCarthy, a father of four who lives in South Fulton, Georgia, and had been relying on unemployment since losing his job as a sales representative for a luxury senior living community. He said he would be left with no income by the second week of January if Trump refused to sign the bill.

McCarthy said he already burned through much of his savings as he waited five months to begin receiving about $350 a week in unemployment benefits.

“The entire experience was horrifying,” said McCarthy. “I shudder to think if I had not saved anything or had an emergency fund through those five months, where would we have been?”

He added, “It’s going to be difficult if the president doesn’t sign this bill.”

The bill, which was in Florida awaiting Trump’s signature, would also activate a weekly $300 federal supplement to unemployment payments.

Sharon Shelton Corpening had been hoping the extra help would allow her 83-year-old mother, with whom she lives, to stop eating into her social security payments to make their $1,138 rent.

Corpening, who lives in the Atlanta area, had launched a freelance content strategy business that was just taking off before the pandemic hit, prompting several of her contracts to fall through. She was receiving about $125 a week under the pandemic unemployment program and says she would be unable to pay her bills in about a month. This, despite her temporary work for the U.S. Census and as an elections poll worker.

“On the brink,” Corpening, who lobbies for Unemployment Action, a project launched by the Center for Popular Democracy to fight for relief, said of her predicament. “One more month, if that. Then, I run out of everything.”

In addition to the unemployment benefits that have already lapsed, Trump’s continued refusal to sign the bill would lead to the expiration of eviction protections and put on hold a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters, as well as money for cash-starved transit systems and for vaccine distribution.

The relief was also attached to a $1.4 trillion government funding bill to keep the federal government operating through September, which would mean that failing to sign it by Tuesday would trigger a federal shutdown.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet were set to lapse at midnight Saturday unless President Donald Trump signed an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections.

Trump’s refusal to sign the bipartisan package as he demands larger COVID relief checks and complains about “pork” spending could also force a federal government shutdown when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday in the middle of a pandemic.

“It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stands to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signs the package into law or succeeds in his improbable quest for changes.

Washington has been reeling since Trump threw the package into limbo after it had already won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he has assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed.

President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill immediately as two federal programs providing unemployment aid were set to expire Saturday.

Pres. Trump signs virus relief bill, wants $2000 stimulus checks

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” the government’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S. He declined to weigh in on whether that step should have been taken sooner. He said the variant strain is something “to follow very carefully” and “we’re looking at it very intensively now.”

He said: “Does it make someone more ill? Is it more serious virus in the sense of virulence? And the answer is, it doesn’t appear to be that way.” British officials are telling their U.S. colleagues it appears that the vaccines being rolled out will be strong enough to deal with the new variant but, Fauci said, “we’re going to be doing the studies ourselves.”

Fauci said the U.S. is at a critical phase of the pandemic, with the worst probably still ahead. He predicted the general population would be getting immunized widely by late March or early April — beyond the front-line workers, older people and certain other segments of the public given priority for the vaccines.

Fauci spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609155761906.png" alt="Dr. Anthony Fauci received the COVID-19 vaccine last week-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Anthony Fauci received the COVID-19 vaccine last week-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” the government’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday.Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S. He declined to weigh in on whether that step should have been taken sooner. He said the variant strain is something “to follow very carefully” and “we’re looking at it very intensively now.”He said: “Does it make someone more ill? Is it more serious virus in the sense of virulence? And the answer is, it doesn’t appear to be that way.” British officials are telling their U.S. colleagues it appears that the vaccines being rolled out will be strong enough to deal with the new variant but, Fauci said, “we’re going to be doing the studies ourselves.”Fauci said the U.S. is at a critical phase of the pandemic, with the worst probably still ahead. He predicted the general population would be getting immunized widely by late March or early April — beyond the front-line workers, older people and certain other segments of the public given priority for the vaccines.Fauci spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Fauci: US taking hard look at variant of coronavirus

LYONS, Neb. (AP) — A natural gas pipeline in rural Nebraska has been repaired after a rupture caused an explosion that was large enough to be seen by satellite. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Northern Natural Gas said in a statement Saturday that “a series of scores and gouges were found across the impacted pipeline segment, indicating that the damage may have been caused from a third party working in the area.”

 The company said exact confirmation will take several weeks. 

No injuries were reported in Thursday’s explosion. 

Northern Natural Gas crews worked “around the clock” to repair damage. 

The company said service was interrupted temporarily for three customers.

LYONS, Neb. (AP) — A natural gas pipeline in rural Nebraska has been repaired after a rupture caused an explosion that was large enough to be seen by satellite. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Northern Natural Gas said in a statement Saturday that “a series of scores and gouges were found across the impacted pipeline segment, indicating that the damage may have been caused from a third party working in the area.” The company said exact confirmation will take several weeks. No injuries were reported in Thursday’s explosion. Northern Natural Gas crews worked “around the clock” to repair damage. The company said service was interrupted temporarily for three customers.

Nebraska pipeline rupture causes explosion; no one hurt

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs Police say a Nebraska man was found dead after his vehicle drove off of Interstate 480 in Iowa near the Missouri River. 

Police said 50-year-old Stephen Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska, was found shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday after his vehicle came to rest against a tree.

 Council Bluffs Police said it wasn’t immediately clear why Johnson’s vehicle left the road.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs Police say a Nebraska man was found dead after his vehicle drove off of Interstate 480 in Iowa near the Missouri River. Police said 50-year-old Stephen Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska, was found shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday after his vehicle came to rest against a tree. Council Bluffs Police said it wasn’t immediately clear why Johnson’s vehicle left the road.

Nebraska man found dead after his vehicle drives off road

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say the man suspected of setting off a bomb in a recreational vehicle that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas day died in the explosion.

U.S. Attorney Don Cochran identified the suspect on Sunday as Anthony Quinn Warner. Investigators said they used DNA to determine the remains were Warner’s.

The FBI said it also matched the RV’s vehicle identification number to a registration belonging to Warner. Federal agents and police had searched a home in suburban Nashville associated with Warner. Authorities did not immediately provide details about a potential motive.

FBI special agent Douglas Korneski said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the explosion, except for Warner.

Nashville police urged nearby residents to get away as an ominous recording blared from a recreational vehicle. Suddenly the warning stopped, and Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown” started playing. Then the bomb went off.

Police officers provided harrowing details Sunday of responding to the Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville, at times getting choked up reliving the moments that led up to the blast and offering gratitude that they were still alive.

“This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life,” Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at a news conference. “Christmas will never be the same.”

Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said authorities were investigating someone associated with the property, whom he identified as Warner.

Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and the backyard. A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 had shown an RV similar to the one that exploded parked in the backyard, but it was not at the property on Saturday, according to an AP reporter at the scene.

The official said federal investigators were examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history, as well as a recent deed transfer of the home they searched in suburban Nashville.

Forensic analysts were also reviewing evidence collected from the blast site to try to identify the components of the explosives as well as information from the U.S. Bomb Data Center for intelligence and investigative leads, the official said.

He said federal agents were examining a number of potential leads and pursuing several theories, including the possibility that the AT&amp;T building was targeted. The bomb caused damage that affected communications in several states.

Investigators shut down the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene — an area packed with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops — as they shuffled through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the explosion.

Meanwhile, Nashville realtor Steve Fridrich told the AP in a text message that Warner had worked for his company as a computer consultant, and informed it that he was retiring earlier this month. The company has notified authorities of the past IT work, Fridrich said.

There were other signs of progress in the investigation. The FBI has said it was looking at a number of individuals who may be connected to it. Officials also said no additional explosive devices have been found — indicating no active threat to the area.

Investigators also said they were working to identify human remains found at the scene. Beyond that, the only known casualties were three injured people.

The infrastructure damage was broadly felt, due to an AT&amp;T central office being affected by the blast. Police emergency systems in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, as well as Nashville’s COVID-19 community hot line and a handful of hospital systems were impacted.

The building contained a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it — but the company has declined to say exactly how many people were affected.

AT&amp;T said Sunday it was rerouting service to other facilities as the company worked to restore its heavily damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was bringing in resources to help recover affected voice and data services and expects to have 24 additional trailers of disaster recovery equipment at the site by the end of the day.

Restoration efforts faced several challenges, which included a fire that forced their teams to work with safety and structural engineers and drilling access holes into the building in order to reconnect power.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until Dec. 30.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say the man suspected of setting off a bomb in a recreational vehicle that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas day died in the explosion.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">BREAKING: Law enforcement is now announcing that Anthony Warner, 63, of Bakertown Rd, is the man believed responsible for Friday&#39;s explosion. He perished in the blast. No one else is presently believed to have been involved. Thank you to our federal &amp; state partners. <a href="https://t.co/PwMa1MwHvd">pic.twitter.com/PwMa1MwHvd</a>&mdash; Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) <a href="https://twitter.com/MNPDNashville/status/1343319023107399682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>U.S. Attorney Don Cochran identified the suspect on Sunday as Anthony Quinn Warner. Investigators said they used DNA to determine the remains were Warner’s.The FBI said it also matched the RV’s vehicle identification number to a registration belonging to Warner. Federal agents and police had searched a home in suburban Nashville associated with Warner. Authorities did not immediately provide details about a potential motive.FBI special agent Douglas Korneski said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the explosion, except for Warner.------------Nashville police urged nearby residents to get away as an ominous recording blared from a recreational vehicle. Suddenly the warning stopped, and Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown” started playing. Then the bomb went off.Police officers provided harrowing details Sunday of responding to the Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville, at times getting choked up reliving the moments that led up to the blast and offering gratitude that they were still alive.“This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life,” Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at a news conference. “Christmas will never be the same.”Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said authorities were investigating someone associated with the property, whom he identified as Warner.Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and the backyard. A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 had shown an RV similar to the one that exploded parked in the backyard, but it was not at the property on Saturday, according to an AP reporter at the scene.The official said federal investigators were examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history, as well as a recent deed transfer of the home they searched in suburban Nashville.Forensic analysts were also reviewing evidence collected from the blast site to try to identify the components of the explosives as well as information from the U.S. Bomb Data Center for intelligence and investigative leads, the official said.He said federal agents were examining a number of potential leads and pursuing several theories, including the possibility that the AT&amp;T building was targeted. The bomb caused damage that affected communications in several states.Investigators shut down the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene — an area packed with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops — as they shuffled through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the explosion.Meanwhile, Nashville realtor Steve Fridrich told the AP in a text message that Warner had worked for his company as a computer consultant, and informed it that he was retiring earlier this month. The company has notified authorities of the past IT work, Fridrich said.There were other signs of progress in the investigation. The FBI has said it was looking at a number of individuals who may be connected to it. Officials also said no additional explosive devices have been found — indicating no active threat to the area.Investigators also said they were working to identify human remains found at the scene. Beyond that, the only known casualties were three injured people.The infrastructure damage was broadly felt, due to an AT&amp;T central office being affected by the blast. Police emergency systems in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, as well as Nashville’s COVID-19 community hot line and a handful of hospital systems were impacted.The building contained a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it — but the company has declined to say exactly how many people were affected.AT&amp;T said Sunday it was rerouting service to other facilities as the company worked to restore its heavily damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was bringing in resources to help recover affected voice and data services and expects to have 24 additional trailers of disaster recovery equipment at the site by the end of the day.Restoration efforts faced several challenges, which included a fire that forced their teams to work with safety and structural engineers and drilling access holes into the building in order to reconnect power.The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until Dec. 30.

Officials ID suspect in Nashville explosion who died in blast

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated Press

Does it spread more easily? Make people sicker? Mean that treatments and vaccines won’t work? Questions are multiplying as fast as new strains of the coronavirus, especially the one now moving through England. Scientists say there is reason for concern but that the new strains should not cause alarm.

“There’s zero evidence that there’s any increase in severity” of COVID-19 from the latest strain, the World Health Organization’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan said Monday.

“We don’t want to overreact,” the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN.

Worry has been growing since Dec. 19, when Britain’s prime minister said a new strain, or variant, of the coronavirus seemed to spread more easily than earlier ones and was moving rapidly through England. Dozens of countries barred flights from the U.K., and southern England was placed under strict lockdown measures.

Here are some questions and answers on what’s known about the virus so far.

A: New variants have been seen almost since the virus was first detected in China nearly a year ago. Viruses often mutate, or develop small changes, as they reproduce and move through a population — something “that’s natural and expected,” WHO said in a statement Monday.

“Most of the mutations are trivial. It’s the change of one or two letters in the genetic alphabet that doesn’t make much difference in the ability to cause disease,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist who directs a global health program at Boston College.

A more concerning situation is when a virus mutates by changing the proteins on its surface to help it escape from drugs or the immune system, or if it acquires a lot of changes that make it very different from previous versions.

A: That can happen if one strain is a “founder” strain — the first one to take hold and start spreading in an area, or because “super spreader” events helped it become established.

It also can happen if a mutation gives a new variant an advantage, such as helping it spread more easily than other strains that are circulating, as may be the case in Britain.

“It’s more contagious than the original strain,” Landrigan said. “The reason it’s becoming the dominant strain in England is because it out-competes the other strains and moves faster and infects more people, so it wins the race.”

Moncef Slaoui, the chief science adviser for the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign, said scientists are still working to confirm whether the strain in England spreads more easily. He said it’s also possible that “seeding” of hidden cases “happened in the shadows” before scientists started looking for it.

The strain was first detected in September, WHO officials said.

A: It has many mutations -- nearly two dozen -- and eight are on the spike protein that the virus uses to attach to and infect cells. The spike is what vaccines and antibody drugs target.

Dr. Ravi Gupta, a virus expert at the University of Cambridge in England, said modeling studies suggest it may be up to two times more infectious than the strain that’s been most common in England so far. He and other researchers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.14.422555v2" target="_blank">posted a report</a>&nbsp;of it on a website scientists use to quickly share developments but it has not been formally reviewed or published in a journal.

Q: DOES IT MAKE PEOPLE SICKER OR MORE LIKELY TO DIE?

A: “There’s no indication that either of those is true, but clearly those are two issues we’ve got to watch,” Landrigan said. As more patients get infected with the new strain, “they’ll know fairly soon if the new strain makes people sicker.”

A WHO outbreak expert, Maria Van Kerkhove, said Monday that “the information that we have so far is that there isn’t a change” in the kind of illness or its severity from the new strain.

Q: WHAT DO THE MUTATIONS MEAN FOR TREATMENTS?

A: A couple of cases in England raise concern that the mutations in some of the emerging new strains could hurt the potency of drugs that supply antibodies to block the virus from infecting cells.

“The studies on antibody response are currently under way. We expect results in coming days and weeks,” Van Kerkhove said.

One drugmaker, Eli Lilly, said that tests in its lab using strains that contain the most concerning mutation suggest that its drug remains fully active.

A: Slaoui said the presumption is that current vaccines would still be effective against the variant, but that scientists are working to confirm that.

“My expectation is, this will not be a problem,” he said.

United Kingdom officials have said “they don’t believe there is impact on the vaccines,” Van Kerkhove said.

Vaccines induce broad immune system responses besides just prompting the immune system to make antibodies to the virus, so they are expected to still work, several scientists said.

“If the new strain is indeed more contagious than the original strain, then it’s very, very sensible to restrict travel,” he said. “It will slow things down. Any time you can break the chain of transmission you can slow the virus down.”

CNN quoted Fauci as saying that he was not criticizing other countries for suspending travel to England but that he would not advise the United States to take such a step.

The presence or extent of the new strain in the United States is unknown at this time.

A: Follow the advice to wear a mask, wash your hands often, maintain social distance and avoid crowds, public health experts say.

“The bottom line is we need to suppress transmission” of all virus strains that can cause COVID-19, said the WHO’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“The more we allow it to spread, the more mutations will happen.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608566572342.png" alt="Image courtesy GISAID" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy GISAID</figcaption>
 </figure> By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated PressDoes it spread more easily? Make people sicker? Mean that treatments and vaccines won’t work? Questions are multiplying as fast as new strains of the coronavirus, especially the one now moving through England. Scientists say there is reason for concern but that the new strains should not cause alarm.“There’s zero evidence that there’s any increase in severity” of COVID-19 from the latest strain, the World Health Organization’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan said Monday.“We don’t want to overreact,” the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN.Worry has been growing since Dec. 19, when Britain’s prime minister said a new strain, or variant, of the coronavirus seemed to spread more easily than earlier ones and was moving rapidly through England. Dozens of countries barred flights from the U.K., and southern England was placed under strict lockdown measures.Here are some questions and answers on what’s known about the virus so far.Q: WHERE DID THIS NEW STRAIN COME FROM?A: New variants have been seen almost since the virus was first detected in China nearly a year ago. Viruses often mutate, or develop small changes, as they reproduce and move through a population — something “that’s natural and expected,” WHO said in a statement Monday.“Most of the mutations are trivial. It’s the change of one or two letters in the genetic alphabet that doesn’t make much difference in the ability to cause disease,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist who directs a global health program at Boston College.A more concerning situation is when a virus mutates by changing the proteins on its surface to help it escape from drugs or the immune system, or if it acquires a lot of changes that make it very different from previous versions.Q: HOW DOES ONE STRAIN BECOME DOMINANT?A: That can happen if one strain is a “founder” strain — the first one to take hold and start spreading in an area, or because “super spreader” events helped it become established.It also can happen if a mutation gives a new variant an advantage, such as helping it spread more easily than other strains that are circulating, as may be the case in Britain.“It’s more contagious than the original strain,” Landrigan said. “The reason it’s becoming the dominant strain in England is because it out-competes the other strains and moves faster and infects more people, so it wins the race.”Moncef Slaoui, the chief science adviser for the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign, said scientists are still working to confirm whether the strain in England spreads more easily. He said it’s also possible that “seeding” of hidden cases “happened in the shadows” before scientists started looking for it.The strain was first detected in September, WHO officials said.Q: WHAT’S WORRISOME ABOUT IT?A: It has many mutations -- nearly two dozen -- and eight are on the spike protein that the virus uses to attach to and infect cells. The spike is what vaccines and antibody drugs target.Dr. Ravi Gupta, a virus expert at the University of Cambridge in England, said modeling studies suggest it may be up to two times more infectious than the strain that’s been most common in England so far. He and other researchers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.14.422555v2" target="_blank">posted a report</a>&nbsp;of it on a website scientists use to quickly share developments but it has not been formally reviewed or published in a journal.Q: DOES IT MAKE PEOPLE SICKER OR MORE LIKELY TO DIE?A: “There’s no indication that either of those is true, but clearly those are two issues we’ve got to watch,” Landrigan said. As more patients get infected with the new strain, “they’ll know fairly soon if the new strain makes people sicker.”A WHO outbreak expert, Maria Van Kerkhove, said Monday that “the information that we have so far is that there isn’t a change” in the kind of illness or its severity from the new strain.Q: WHAT DO THE MUTATIONS MEAN FOR TREATMENTS?A: A couple of cases in England raise concern that the mutations in some of the emerging new strains could hurt the potency of drugs that supply antibodies to block the virus from infecting cells.“The studies on antibody response are currently under way. We expect results in coming days and weeks,” Van Kerkhove said.One drugmaker, Eli Lilly, said that tests in its lab using strains that contain the most concerning mutation suggest that its drug remains fully active.Q: WHAT ABOUT VACCINES?A: Slaoui said the presumption is that current vaccines would still be effective against the variant, but that scientists are working to confirm that.“My expectation is, this will not be a problem,” he said.United Kingdom officials have said “they don’t believe there is impact on the vaccines,” Van Kerkhove said.Vaccines induce broad immune system responses besides just prompting the immune system to make antibodies to the virus, so they are expected to still work, several scientists said.Q: CAN TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS DO ANY GOOD?A: Landrigan thinks they can.“If the new strain is indeed more contagious than the original strain, then it’s very, very sensible to restrict travel,” he said. “It will slow things down. Any time you can break the chain of transmission you can slow the virus down.”CNN quoted Fauci as saying that he was not criticizing other countries for suspending travel to England but that he would not advise the United States to take such a step.The presence or extent of the new strain in the United States is unknown at this time.Q: WHAT CAN I DO TO REDUCE MY RISK?A: Follow the advice to wear a mask, wash your hands often, maintain social distance and avoid crowds, public health experts say.“The bottom line is we need to suppress transmission” of all virus strains that can cause COVID-19, said the WHO’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.“The more we allow it to spread, the more mutations will happen.”___

Scientists not alarmed over new virus strains

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Some who mailed holiday presents weeks early this year found they didn’t act early enough as Christmas arrived with their gifts stuck in transit.

The U.S. Postal Service said on its website that it was “experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19.”

Austin Race of Grand Rapids, Michigan, placed an online order Nov. 30 for a collector’s model die-cast of a NASCAR racing car. It hadn’t reached his father after the Postal Service passed through his neighborhood Thursday night, even though he was notified Dec. 8 that it was shipped by two-day priority mail.

His gift was in Opa-locka, Florida, the last time he checked the tracking number, about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of where he ordered it in Mooresville, North Carolina. Race, 21, resigned himself to telling his father he will have to wait a little longer for his gift.

“I do understand the situation, but it’s still kind of frustrating,” he said.

Joanna Goldstein ordered Christmas ornaments online on November 17 for her 10-year-old son’s soccer coach and her son’s friend. She figured it was ample time to arrive from a store about 80 miles (128 kilometers) from her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

All appeared well Dec. 11 when she received a notice from the Postal Service that the ornaments had been received in Columbus, Ohio.

But then the package made a journey through distribution centers in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Lansing, Michigan, before apparently getting stuck in Detroit.

On Wednesday, she received another notice that delivery would be later than initially anticipated. Her son was angry but Goldstein is taking it in stride.

“I was frustrated last week thinking, ‘C’mon, get here,’ but now I am just sort of laughing it off,” she said.

She told her son the ornaments will hang on the tree next year and they will have a story to tell about the long journey they took during the pandemic.

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Some who mailed holiday presents weeks early this year found they didn’t act early enough as Christmas arrived with their gifts stuck in transit.The U.S. Postal Service said on its website that it was “experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19.”Austin Race of Grand Rapids, Michigan, placed an online order Nov. 30 for a collector’s model die-cast of a NASCAR racing car. It hadn’t reached his father after the Postal Service passed through his neighborhood Thursday night, even though he was notified Dec. 8 that it was shipped by two-day priority mail.His gift was in Opa-locka, Florida, the last time he checked the tracking number, about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of where he ordered it in Mooresville, North Carolina. Race, 21, resigned himself to telling his father he will have to wait a little longer for his gift.“I do understand the situation, but it’s still kind of frustrating,” he said.Joanna Goldstein ordered Christmas ornaments online on November 17 for her 10-year-old son’s soccer coach and her son’s friend. She figured it was ample time to arrive from a store about 80 miles (128 kilometers) from her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.All appeared well Dec. 11 when she received a notice from the Postal Service that the ornaments had been received in Columbus, Ohio.But then the package made a journey through distribution centers in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Lansing, Michigan, before apparently getting stuck in Detroit.On Wednesday, she received another notice that delivery would be later than initially anticipated. Her son was angry but Goldstein is taking it in stride.“I was frustrated last week thinking, ‘C’mon, get here,’ but now I am just sort of laughing it off,” she said.She told her son the ornaments will hang on the tree next year and they will have a story to tell about the long journey they took during the pandemic.

'Unprecedented' mail volume delays Christmas gifts

By ANNE KNIGGENDORF <a href="https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2020-12-23/kansas-city-poliovirus-survivor-hopes-and-prays-many-will-agree-to-covid-19-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>

Pat Gray speaks matter-of-factly about taking her last unassisted steps just before her 13th birthday in 1953.

She
 says she’d been suffering from a gastro-intestinal illness for a few 
days. Her fever was high, and her mother was caring for her on a sofa in
 the dining room of the family’s Kansas City, Kansas, home.

Gray was miserable, so her mother suggested she move to her own bed.

“I
 remember getting up, going up the steps to my bedroom, and my legs just
 gave out. I didn’t make it the rest of the way up the steps; I had to 
crawl. That was the last time I walked,” Gray, now 80, says in the 
library of her Lenexa assisted living facility.

While the 
poliovirus and the coronavirus are not the same classes of virus, are 
not contracted the same, and the coronavirus is much more contagious, 
Gray sees several parallels — including the urgent need for widespread 
dissemination of the vaccine.

She's disturbed by reports that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-us-half-want-vaccine-shots-4d98dbfc0a64d60d52ac84c3065dac55" target="_blank">as many as half of Americans</a> will refuse the vaccine once it's available to the general public.

“I
 hope and pray that that number goes down. I think that unless everybody
 takes it, we’re still going to be fighting the virus,” Gray says.

She
 recalls a concentrated effort to encourage the public to take the polio
 vaccine in the years after her illness. And even though polio is just a
 word now to most people — not a vivid memory as it is for her — she 
thinks most parents understand the importance of inoculating their 
children against it.

The first major outbreak of the poliovirus in the United States was documented in <a href="https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline#EVT_100300" target="_blank">1894</a>,
 and until widespread distribution of the vaccine in the mid to late 
1950s, the number of cases climbed, reaching nearly 60,000 in 1952.

While
 most who contracted one of the three strains of the poliovirus were 
asymptomatic, in 1952 a third of patients, including Gray, experienced 
paralysis. 

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is classified as an 
enterovirus, meaning it enters the gastrointestinal tract and attacks 
the nervous system. It’s contracted by fecal matter entering the body 
through the mouth, which is why swimming pools were associated with its 
spread.

“The poliovirus primarily affects the nerves, whereas the COVID virus is primarily affecting the respiratory track,” says <a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/population-health/faculty-and-staff/faculty/edward-f-ellerbeck.html" target="_blank">Dr. Edward Ellerbeck</a>, chair of population health at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Although each virus can affect a person’s ability to breathe, the causes are not the same.

In
 polio patients who had the strain of the virus that hindered their 
breathing, Ellerbeck explains that “what happens is they lost the 
innervation from the nerve to the muscles that actually control their 
breathing. It wasn’t that their lungs were affected; their lungs were 
fine.”

COVID patients’ breathing is affected because the lung 
tissue is destroyed, though the surrounding nerves are fine. But both 
viruses can create long-lasting problems.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608741831895.png" alt="Pat Gray gave up her crutches in 2006 and began using a wheelchair so that her arms would stay strong. Anne Kniggendorf / KCUR 89.3" />
 <figcaption>Pat Gray gave up her crutches in 2006 and began using a wheelchair so that her arms would stay strong. Anne Kniggendorf / KCUR 89.3</figcaption>
 </figure>By ANNE KNIGGENDORF <a href="https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2020-12-23/kansas-city-poliovirus-survivor-hopes-and-prays-many-will-agree-to-covid-19-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>Pat Gray speaks matter-of-factly about taking her last unassisted steps just before her 13th birthday in 1953.She
 says she’d been suffering from a gastro-intestinal illness for a few 
days. Her fever was high, and her mother was caring for her on a sofa in
 the dining room of the family’s Kansas City, Kansas, home.Gray was miserable, so her mother suggested she move to her own bed.“I
 remember getting up, going up the steps to my bedroom, and my legs just
 gave out. I didn’t make it the rest of the way up the steps; I had to 
crawl. That was the last time I walked,” Gray, now 80, says in the 
library of her Lenexa assisted living facility.While the 
poliovirus and the coronavirus are not the same classes of virus, are 
not contracted the same, and the coronavirus is much more contagious, 
Gray sees several parallels — including the urgent need for widespread 
dissemination of the vaccine.She's disturbed by reports that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-us-half-want-vaccine-shots-4d98dbfc0a64d60d52ac84c3065dac55" target="_blank">as many as half of Americans</a> will refuse the vaccine once it's available to the general public.“I
 hope and pray that that number goes down. I think that unless everybody
 takes it, we’re still going to be fighting the virus,” Gray says.She
 recalls a concentrated effort to encourage the public to take the polio
 vaccine in the years after her illness. And even though polio is just a
 word now to most people — not a vivid memory as it is for her — she 
thinks most parents understand the importance of inoculating their 
children against it.The first major outbreak of the poliovirus in the United States was documented in <a href="https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline#EVT_100300" target="_blank">1894</a>,
 and until widespread distribution of the vaccine in the mid to late 
1950s, the number of cases climbed, reaching nearly 60,000 in 1952.While
 most who contracted one of the three strains of the poliovirus were 
asymptomatic, in 1952 a third of patients, including Gray, experienced 
paralysis. Polio, or poliomyelitis, is classified as an 
enterovirus, meaning it enters the gastrointestinal tract and attacks 
the nervous system. It’s contracted by fecal matter entering the body 
through the mouth, which is why swimming pools were associated with its 
spread.The coronavirus is strictly respiratory.“The poliovirus primarily affects the nerves, whereas the COVID virus is primarily affecting the respiratory track,” says <a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/population-health/faculty-and-staff/faculty/edward-f-ellerbeck.html" target="_blank">Dr. Edward Ellerbeck</a>, chair of population health at the University of Kansas Medical Center.Although each virus can affect a person’s ability to breathe, the causes are not the same.In
 polio patients who had the strain of the virus that hindered their 
breathing, Ellerbeck explains that “what happens is they lost the 
innervation from the nerve to the muscles that actually control their 
breathing. It wasn’t that their lungs were affected; their lungs were 
fine.”COVID patients’ breathing is affected because the lung 
tissue is destroyed, though the surrounding nerves are fine. But both 
viruses can create long-lasting problems.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608741902411.png" alt="Pat and husband Jim Gray circa 1966 at her parents' home in Roeland Park. Courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Pat and husband Jim Gray circa 1966 at her parents' home in Roeland Park. Courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Gray has for decades struggled with complications and post-polio 
syndrome, a little-understood condition that causes extreme weariness. 
In 2006, she traded in braces and crutches for a wheelchair in order to 
save the strength in her arms. A couple of years ago, she visited <a href="https://www.kcbj.com/?JointClinic" target="_blank">Kansas City Bone &amp; Joint Clinic</a>
 to be fitted for an upgrade. As she worked on the voluminous amount of 
required paperwork — feeling stressed and impatient — an encounter with a
 nurse practitioner brought her full circle with her past.Laurel Short walked in, and Gray says she felt a calm come over her. The
 two talked, and Gray told Short she was treated for her childhood bout 
with polio at Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.“I 
had this odd feeling when she said that," Short says. "And I said, ‘Do 
you remember the name of your doctor?’ And she did not miss a beat. She 
said, ‘Dr. Phil Nohe,’ so then I knew that she had been treated by my 
grandfather.”Gray says Short’s features must be so like her grandfather’s that she was subconsciously soothed by the sight of her.Short
 has only ever seen photos of Nohe, who died the week she was born in 
1983. Still, she likes to think that her style of care is similar to 
his. Short says she’s already started hearing stories of clinics scheduling rehabilitation for people who’ve survived COVID..“We
 know the field of rehabilitation is going to be integral to working 
with these folks and educating primary care providers will be really 
important, too,” Short says. “We don’t understand all the long-term 
effects.” Gray had thought the lasting effect of being unable to walk unassisted was the long-term effect she’d be dealing with; she was well into adulthood before post-polio set in.Short
 says post-polio is still not well understood, but patients experience 
new weakness, new atrophy of muscles and intense fatigue.Those 
who contracted poliovirus were affected in a spectrum of ways from mild 
to life-threatening. For some, the long-term evidence is a slightly 
smaller foot, shorter leg, or the development of scoliosis due to 
asymmetrical growth caused by the disease.“We see that with 
COVID-19 where some people say, ‘Oh, it’s just like the flu,’" Short 
says. "And we cannot predict who will get the mild form and who will get
 the severe form, and that is completely similar to polio, even though 
they’re different types of viruses.” Fortunately, says Ellerbeck,
 vaccine development has advanced significantly since Dr. Jonas Salk 
introduced his polio vaccine in 1955 — two years after the disease 
interrupted Gray's childhood.He says recipients of the new coronavirus vaccines should feel more secure than the first people who took the polio vaccine. “Both
 of them had tremendous public awareness related to them,” Ellerbeck 
says, but “we’re light years beyond where we were in the development of 
the polio vaccine in our safety control methods. Now we have much better
 safety monitoring and safety controls on our vaccine development.”Gray
 doesn’t think people are resistant to the COVID vaccine because the 
polio epidemic is now only a distant memory. She thinks the resistance 
stems from people simply not wanting to be told what to do.“And 
that’s a sad thing,” Gray says, “because if we all are in this together,
 then we need to work together to solve the problem.”Anne Kniggendorf writes about arts and culture for KCUR and is the author of Secret Kansas City . Follow her on Twitter, @annekniggendorf.