WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.

Trump also commuted the sentences of five people. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out the door, Trump has made clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly. Despite speculation, though, not on the list were members of Trump’s own family, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and the president himself.

The pardons included former Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York. Trump commuted the sentence of former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas.

Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump to be president, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed.

Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party.

Trump also announced pardons for allies ensnared in the Russia investigation. One was for George Papadopoulos, his 2016 campaign adviser whose conversation unwittingly helped trigger the Russia investigation that shadowed Trump’s presidency for nearly two years. He also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Van der Zwaan and Papadopoulos are the third and fourth Russia investigation defendants granted clemency. By pardoning them, Trump once again took aim at Mueller’s probe and pushed a broader effort to undo the results of the investigation that yielded criminal charges against a half-dozen associates.

Last month, Trump pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and months earlier commuted the sentence of another associate, Roger Stone, days before he was to report to prison.

In the group announced Tuesday night were four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead and caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.

Supporters of Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide, had lobbied for pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished in an investigation and prosecution they said was tainted by problems and withheld exculpatory evidence. All four were serving lengthy prison sentences.

The pardons reflected Trump’s apparent willingness to give the benefit of doubt to American servicemembers and contractors when it comes to acts of violence in warzones against civilians. Last November, for instance, he pardoned a former U.S. Army commando who was set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker and a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans.

“Paul Slough and his colleagues didn’t deserve to spend one minute in prison,” said Brian Heberlig, a lawyer for one of the four pardoned Blackwater defendants. “I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608686054105.png" alt="President Trump during his statement Tuesday -image courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>President Trump during his statement Tuesday -image courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.Trump also commuted the sentences of five people. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out the door, Trump has made clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly. Despite speculation, though, not on the list were members of Trump’s own family, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and the president himself.The pardons included former Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York. Trump commuted the sentence of former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas.Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump to be president, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed.Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party.Trump also announced pardons for allies ensnared in the Russia investigation. One was for George Papadopoulos, his 2016 campaign adviser whose conversation unwittingly helped trigger the Russia investigation that shadowed Trump’s presidency for nearly two years. He also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.Van der Zwaan and Papadopoulos are the third and fourth Russia investigation defendants granted clemency. By pardoning them, Trump once again took aim at Mueller’s probe and pushed a broader effort to undo the results of the investigation that yielded criminal charges against a half-dozen associates.Last month, Trump pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and months earlier commuted the sentence of another associate, Roger Stone, days before he was to report to prison.In the group announced Tuesday night were four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead and caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.Supporters of Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide, had lobbied for pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished in an investigation and prosecution they said was tainted by problems and withheld exculpatory evidence. All four were serving lengthy prison sentences.The pardons reflected Trump’s apparent willingness to give the benefit of doubt to American servicemembers and contractors when it comes to acts of violence in warzones against civilians. Last November, for instance, he pardoned a former U.S. Army commando who was set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker and a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans.“Paul Slough and his colleagues didn’t deserve to spend one minute in prison,” said Brian Heberlig, a lawyer for one of the four pardoned Blackwater defendants. “I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.”

President Trump pardons 15, including GOP allies

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two men are facing Nebraska charges in connection with the death of a teen whose body was found in the back of a vehicle abandoned in Wyoming last spring.

 The 17-year-old and 19-year-old had been held in Wyoming since the body was discovered on May 11, and Omaha Police said they have now been returned to Omaha to face charges. 

Investigators determined that 15-year-old Manuel Gijon-Villa had been shot in Omaha around 33rd and L streets before his body was found on May 11 in the vehicle that was abandoned on Interstate 80 near Rawlins, Wyoming.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two men are facing Nebraska charges in connection with the death of a teen whose body was found in the back of a vehicle abandoned in Wyoming last spring. The 17-year-old and 19-year-old had been held in Wyoming since the body was discovered on May 11, and Omaha Police said they have now been returned to Omaha to face charges. Investigators determined that 15-year-old Manuel Gijon-Villa had been shot in Omaha around 33rd and L streets before his body was found on May 11 in the vehicle that was abandoned on Interstate 80 near Rawlins, Wyoming.

2 men arrested when body found in Wyoming return to Nebraska

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota health officials have reported an additional 20 people have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 1,381. 

Health officials reported 347 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday. 

Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 95,000 COVID-19 infections. 

As of Monday, 344 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in South Dakota. Of those, 70 were receiving intensive care and 31 were on ventilators. 

According to the COVID Tracking Project, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in South Dakota has decreased over the past two weeks.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota health officials have reported an additional 20 people have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 1,381. Health officials reported 347 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday. Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 95,000 COVID-19 infections. As of Monday, 344 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in South Dakota. Of those, 70 were receiving intensive care and 31 were on ventilators. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in South Dakota has decreased over the past two weeks.

South Dakota reports 20 more COVID-19 deaths, 347 new cases

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The city of Lincoln has agreed to pay $145,000 to a woman who was struck by a StarTran bus three years ago. 

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the settlement ends a lawsuit brought by Sheila Scheinost. 

She said she suffered fractured ribs, a fractured shoulder blade, a concussion and a black eye when she was hit on Dec. 18, 2017, while crossing a street with a walk signal. 

The bus driver was making a left turn when the bus struck Scheinost. 

The driver was fined $25 for failing to yield to a pedestrian, and no longer works for the city.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The city of Lincoln has agreed to pay $145,000 to a woman who was struck by a StarTran bus three years ago. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the settlement ends a lawsuit brought by Sheila Scheinost. She said she suffered fractured ribs, a fractured shoulder blade, a concussion and a black eye when she was hit on Dec. 18, 2017, while crossing a street with a walk signal. The bus driver was making a left turn when the bus struck Scheinost. The driver was fined $25 for failing to yield to a pedestrian, and no longer works for the city.

City of Lincoln settles with woman hit by StarTran bus

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Health officials say it’s important to remain vigilant about social distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus even though vaccines have started to be administered and the state’s virus numbers have improved recently. 

Douglas County Health Director Adi Pour said the arrival of vaccines this month offers hope, but 60% to 70% of the community will have to be vaccinated before precautions can be relaxed. 

Over the past several weeks, the virus numbers have been improving in Nebraska. 

The rate of people being infected with the virus went from the fifth-highest in the nation early this month to the 29th-highest rate on Monday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Health officials say it’s important to remain vigilant about social distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus even though vaccines have started to be administered and the state’s virus numbers have improved recently. Douglas County Health Director Adi Pour said the arrival of vaccines this month offers hope, but 60% to 70% of the community will have to be vaccinated before precautions can be relaxed. Over the past several weeks, the virus numbers have been improving in Nebraska. The rate of people being infected with the virus went from the fifth-highest in the nation early this month to the 29th-highest rate on Monday.

Officials urge Nebraskans to remain vigilant in virus fight

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man is facing a charge of manslaughter after allegedly admitting he had smoked methamphetamine before causing a deadly accident.

 KETV-TV reports that 39-year-old George Plofkin III of Fremont was charged in the Dec. 8 accident that killed 38-year-old Timothy R. Compton of Omaha. 

A criminal complaint says Plofkin was driving a pickup truck when it crossed the center line and struck Compton’s car. 

Paramedics said Plofkin told them he had smoked meth earlier that day and was “telling jokes” while they treated him.

 It wasn’t immediately clear if Plofkin had an attorney.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man is facing a charge of manslaughter after allegedly admitting he had smoked methamphetamine before causing a deadly accident. KETV-TV reports that 39-year-old George Plofkin III of Fremont was charged in the Dec. 8 accident that killed 38-year-old Timothy R. Compton of Omaha. A criminal complaint says Plofkin was driving a pickup truck when it crossed the center line and struck Compton’s car. Paramedics said Plofkin told them he had smoked meth earlier that day and was “telling jokes” while they treated him. It wasn’t immediately clear if Plofkin had an attorney.

Man charged in fatal accident in Omaha

MALVERN, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol says a Missouri man died and an Iowa man has been hospitalized after a head-on crash. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports 76-year-old Maryville, Missouri man Johny Joe Ford was pronounced dead at the scene of the Sunday crash near Malvern, Iowa. 

Malvern is about 35 miles southeast of Omaha, Nebraska. 

Ford was driving a Toyota Prius on U.S. Highway 34 when he crossed into the westbound lane and crashed into an SUV driven by 48-year-old Malvern resident Michael A. Vasquez. 

Vasquez was flown to a Nebraska hospital in critical condition.

MALVERN, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol says a Missouri man died and an Iowa man has been hospitalized after a head-on crash. The Omaha World-Herald reports 76-year-old Maryville, Missouri man Johny Joe Ford was pronounced dead at the scene of the Sunday crash near Malvern, Iowa. Malvern is about 35 miles southeast of Omaha, Nebraska. It's also close to the Missouri border. Ford was driving a Toyota Prius on U.S. Highway 34 when he crossed into the westbound lane and crashed into an SUV driven by 48-year-old Malvern resident Michael A. Vasquez. Vasquez was flown to a Nebraska hospital in critical condition.

Iowa head-on car crash kills Missouri man, injures Iowa man

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Lawmakers tacked on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill and thousands of pages of other end-of-session business in a massive bundle of bipartisan legislation as Capitol Hill prepared to close the books on the year. The bill approved Monday night went to President Donald Trump for his signature, which was expected in the coming days.

The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The Senate cleared the massive package by a 92-6 vote after the House approved the COVID-19 package by another lopsided vote, 359-53. The tallies were a bipartisan coda to months of partisanship and politicking as lawmakers wrangled over the relief question, a logjam that broke after President-elect Joe Biden urged his party to accept a compromise with top Republicans that is smaller than many Democrats would have liked.

The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. It would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants, and theaters and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.

The 5,593-page legislation — by far the longest bill ever — came together Sunday after months of battling, posturing and postelection negotiating that reined in a number of Democratic demands as the end of the congressional session approached. Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted in the fall.

“This deal is not everything I want — not by a long shot,” said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., a longstanding voice in the party’s old-school liberal wing. “The choice before us is simple. It’s about whether we help families or not. It’s about whether we help small businesses and restaurants or not. It’s about whether we boost (food stamp) benefits and strengthen anti-hunger programs or not. And whether we help those dealing with a job loss or not. To me, this is not a tough call.”

Congress also approved a one-week stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight and give Trump time to sign the sweeping legislation.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a key negotiator, said on CNBC Monday morning that the direct payments would begin arriving in bank accounts next week.

Democrats promised more aid to come once Biden takes office, but Republicans were signaling a wait-and-see approach.

The measure would fund the government through September, wrapping a year’s worth of action on annual spending bills into a single package that never saw Senate committee or floor debate.

The legislation followed a tortured path. Democrats played hardball up until Election Day, amid accusations that they wanted to deny Trump a victory that might help him prevail. Democrats denied that, but their demands indeed became more realistic after Trump’s loss and as Biden made it clear that half a loaf was better than none.

The final bill bore ample resemblance to a $1 trillion package put together by Senate Republican leaders in July, a proposal that at the time was scoffed at by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as way too little.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took a victory lap after blocking far more ambitious legislation from reaching the Senate floor. He said the pragmatic approach of Biden was key.

“The president-elect suggesting that we needed to do something now was helpful in moving both Pelosi and Schumer into a better place,” McConnell told The Associated Press. “My view about what comes next is let’s take a look at it. Happy to evaluate that based upon the needs that we confront in February and March.”

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, D-Calif., came to the Senate to cast her vote for the bill. “The American people need relief and I want to be able to do what I can to help them,” she said.

On direct payments, the bill provides $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 to couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes. An additional $600 payment will be made per dependent child, similar to the last round of relief payments in the spring.

“I expect we’ll get the money out by the beginning of next week — $2,400 for a family of four,” Mnuchin said. “So much needed relief just in time for the holidays.”

The $300 per week bonus jobless benefit was half the supplemental federal unemployment benefit provided under the $1.8 billion CARES Act in March. That more generous benefit and would be limited to 11 weeks instead of 16 weeks. The direct $600 stimulus payment was also half the March payment.

The CARES Act was credited with keeping the economy from falling off a cliff during widespread lockdowns in the spring, but Republicans controlling the Senate cited debt concerns in pushing against Democratic demands.

“Anyone who thinks this bill is enough hasn’t heard the desperation in the voices of their constituents, has not looked into the eyes of the small-business owner on the brink of ruin,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, a lifelong New Yorker who pushed hard for money helping his city’s transit systems, renters, theaters and restaurants.

Progress came after a bipartisan group of pragmatists and moderates devised a $908 billion plan that built a middle-ground position that the top four leaders of Congress — the GOP and Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate — used as the basis for their talks. The lawmakers urged leaders on both sides to back off of hardline positions.

“At times we felt like we were in the wilderness because people on all sides of the aisle didn’t want to give, in order to give the other side a win,” said freshman Rep. Elssa Slotkin, D-Mich. “And it was gross to watch, frankly.”

Republicans were most intent on reviving the Paycheck Protection Program with $284 billion, which would cover a second round of PPP grants to especially hard-hit businesses. Democrats won set-asides for low-income and minority communities.

The sweeping bill also contains $25 billion in rental assistance, $15 billion for theaters and other live venues, $82 billion for local schools, colleges and universities, and $10 billion for child care.

Six GOP senators voted against the bill: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

The governmentwide appropriations bill was likely to provide a last $1.4 billion installment for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall as a condition of winning his signature. The Pentagon would receive $696 billion. Democrats and Senate Republicans prevailed in a bid to use bookkeeping maneuvers to squeeze $12.5 billion more for domestic programs into the legislation.

The bill was an engine to carry much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished business, including an almost 400-page water resources bill that targets $10 billion for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental and coastal protection projects. Another addition would extend a batch of soon-to-expire tax breaks, such as one for craft brewers, wineries and distillers.

It also would carry numerous clean-energy provisions sought by Democrats with fossil fuel incentives favored by Republicans, $7 billion to increase access to broadband, $4 billion to help other nations vaccinate their people, $14 billion for cash-starved transit systems, $1 billion for Amtrak and $2 billion for airports and concessionaires. Food stamp benefits would temporarily be increased by 15%.

The Senate Historical Office said the previous record for the length of legislation was the 2,847-page tax reform bill of 1986 — about one-half the size of Monday’s behemoth.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596577475681.png" alt="The 5,593-page spending bill congress passed late Monday is the longest bill in history-image courtesy CSPAN." />
 <figcaption>The 5,593-page spending bill congress passed late Monday is the longest bill in history-image courtesy CSPAN.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.Lawmakers tacked on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill and thousands of pages of other end-of-session business in a massive bundle of bipartisan legislation as Capitol Hill prepared to close the books on the year. The bill approved Monday night went to President Donald Trump for his signature, which was expected in the coming days.The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The Senate cleared the massive package by a 92-6 vote after the House approved the COVID-19 package by another lopsided vote, 359-53. The tallies were a bipartisan coda to months of partisanship and politicking as lawmakers wrangled over the relief question, a logjam that broke after President-elect Joe Biden urged his party to accept a compromise with top Republicans that is smaller than many Democrats would have liked.The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. It would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants, and theaters and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.The 5,593-page legislation — by far the longest bill ever — came together Sunday after months of battling, posturing and postelection negotiating that reined in a number of Democratic demands as the end of the congressional session approached. Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted in the fall.“This deal is not everything I want — not by a long shot,” said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., a longstanding voice in the party’s old-school liberal wing. “The choice before us is simple. It’s about whether we help families or not. It’s about whether we help small businesses and restaurants or not. It’s about whether we boost (food stamp) benefits and strengthen anti-hunger programs or not. And whether we help those dealing with a job loss or not. To me, this is not a tough call.”Congress also approved a one-week stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight and give Trump time to sign the sweeping legislation.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a key negotiator, said on CNBC Monday morning that the direct payments would begin arriving in bank accounts next week.Democrats promised more aid to come once Biden takes office, but Republicans were signaling a wait-and-see approach.The measure would fund the government through September, wrapping a year’s worth of action on annual spending bills into a single package that never saw Senate committee or floor debate.The legislation followed a tortured path. Democrats played hardball up until Election Day, amid accusations that they wanted to deny Trump a victory that might help him prevail. Democrats denied that, but their demands indeed became more realistic after Trump’s loss and as Biden made it clear that half a loaf was better than none.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608637004856.png" alt="House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the $600 is a "significant" amount for working families-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the $600 is a "significant" amount for working families-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>The final bill bore ample resemblance to a $1 trillion package put together by Senate Republican leaders in July, a proposal that at the time was scoffed at by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as way too little.Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took a victory lap after blocking far more ambitious legislation from reaching the Senate floor. He said the pragmatic approach of Biden was key.“The president-elect suggesting that we needed to do something now was helpful in moving both Pelosi and Schumer into a better place,” McConnell told The Associated Press. “My view about what comes next is let’s take a look at it. Happy to evaluate that based upon the needs that we confront in February and March.”Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, D-Calif., came to the Senate to cast her vote for the bill. “The American people need relief and I want to be able to do what I can to help them,” she said.On direct payments, the bill provides $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 to couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes. An additional $600 payment will be made per dependent child, similar to the last round of relief payments in the spring.“I expect we’ll get the money out by the beginning of next week — $2,400 for a family of four,” Mnuchin said. “So much needed relief just in time for the holidays.”The $300 per week bonus jobless benefit was half the supplemental federal unemployment benefit provided under the $1.8 billion CARES Act in March. That more generous benefit and would be limited to 11 weeks instead of 16 weeks. The direct $600 stimulus payment was also half the March payment.The CARES Act was credited with keeping the economy from falling off a cliff during widespread lockdowns in the spring, but Republicans controlling the Senate cited debt concerns in pushing against Democratic demands.“Anyone who thinks this bill is enough hasn’t heard the desperation in the voices of their constituents, has not looked into the eyes of the small-business owner on the brink of ruin,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, a lifelong New Yorker who pushed hard for money helping his city’s transit systems, renters, theaters and restaurants.Progress came after a bipartisan group of pragmatists and moderates devised a $908 billion plan that built a middle-ground position that the top four leaders of Congress — the GOP and Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate — used as the basis for their talks. The lawmakers urged leaders on both sides to back off of hardline positions.“At times we felt like we were in the wilderness because people on all sides of the aisle didn’t want to give, in order to give the other side a win,” said freshman Rep. Elssa Slotkin, D-Mich. “And it was gross to watch, frankly.”Republicans were most intent on reviving the Paycheck Protection Program with $284 billion, which would cover a second round of PPP grants to especially hard-hit businesses. Democrats won set-asides for low-income and minority communities.The sweeping bill also contains $25 billion in rental assistance, $15 billion for theaters and other live venues, $82 billion for local schools, colleges and universities, and $10 billion for child care.Six GOP senators voted against the bill: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.The governmentwide appropriations bill was likely to provide a last $1.4 billion installment for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall as a condition of winning his signature. The Pentagon would receive $696 billion. Democrats and Senate Republicans prevailed in a bid to use bookkeeping maneuvers to squeeze $12.5 billion more for domestic programs into the legislation.The bill was an engine to carry much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished business, including an almost 400-page water resources bill that targets $10 billion for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental and coastal protection projects. Another addition would extend a batch of soon-to-expire tax breaks, such as one for craft brewers, wineries and distillers.It also would carry numerous clean-energy provisions sought by Democrats with fossil fuel incentives favored by Republicans, $7 billion to increase access to broadband, $4 billion to help other nations vaccinate their people, $14 billion for cash-starved transit systems, $1 billion for Amtrak and $2 billion for airports and concessionaires. Food stamp benefits would temporarily be increased by 15%.The Senate Historical Office said the previous record for the length of legislation was the 2,847-page tax reform bill of 1986 — about one-half the size of Monday’s behemoth.

New virus relief checks arriving in bank accounts next week

LONDON (AP) — Trucks waiting to get out of Britain backed up for miles and people were left stranded at airports Monday as dozens of countries around the world slapped tough travel restrictions on the U.K. because of a new and seemingly more contagious strain of the coronavirus in England.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/global-trade-england-english-channel-coronavirus-pandemic-france-83ef15eac10bade1859a0d321d4b5448">The restrictions focus mainly on Britain</a>, which imposed strict new lockdown measures Saturday night because of what it described as the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-england-coronavirus-pandemic-africa-south-africa-74ea2d47820b8dcac02f95ad9440f533">unusually rapid spread of a new strain&nbsp;</a>there. A few other European countries have confirmed cases of the virus variant, and another strain considered especially infectious has been identified in South Africa.

From Canada to India, one nation after another banned flights from Britain, while France barred the entry of trucks from Britain for 48 hours while the strain is assessed.

The precautions raised fears of food shortages in Britain if the restrictions drag on.

After a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he understood the reason for the new measures and expressed hope for a swift resumption in the free flow of traffic between the U.K. and France, perhaps within a few hours.

He said officials from both countries were working “to unblock the flow of trade as fast as possible.” Macron said earlier that France was looking at establishing systematic testing of people for the virus on arrival.

Over the weekend, Johnson imposed strict lockdown measures in London and neighboring areas where Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the new strain is “out of control.” Experts said the early evidence indicates the strain is not more lethal, and they expressed confidence that the vaccines now being rolled out would still be effective against it.

After France announced Sunday night that it was closing its borders to trucks from Britain, hundreds of vehicles, mainly operated by drivers from continental Europe, became stranded outside the English Channel port of Dover. The lines shrank over the course of the day from 500 trucks to about 175, authorities said.

Around 10,000 trucks pass through the port of Dover every day, accounting for about 20% of the country’s trade in goods.

Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-amsterdam-europe-4cd75619772c208c29fddbcb02d25b9e">European Union gave the go-ahead to the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech</a>, setting the stage for the first COVID-19 shots across the 27-nation bloc to begin just after Christmas.

“This is a very good way to end this difficult year and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The approval came just hours after the EU’s drug regulatory agency said the vaccine meets safety and quality standards. It is already being dispensed in Britain and the U.S.

The virus is blamed for 1.7 million deaths worldwide, including about 68,000 in Britain, the second-highest death toll in Europe, behind Italy’s 69,000.

While the French ban does not prevent trucks from entering Britain, the move stoked worries about shortages at a time of year when the UK produces very little of its food and relies heavily on produce delivered from Europe by truck.

Many trucks that carry cargo from the U.K. to the continent return laden with goods for Britain’s use. The fear is that the ban will lead to a drop in such deliveries. Also, some drivers or their employers might decide against entering Britain for fear they won’t be able to get back home.

Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s warned that some products, such as lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus fruits, could soon be in short supply if the crisis not resolved in the coming days.

Canada, India, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden were among the countries that suspended flights from Britain for various lengths of time.

In the United States, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been calling on the U.S. to halt flights as well, said he asked airlines flying into his state from the U.K. to make all passengers take a coronavirus test before boarding. He said at least one carrier, British Airways, agreed to do so.

At Germany’s Berlin and Frankfurt airports, passengers arriving from Britain had to spend Sunday night in the terminals as they awaited test results.

Eurotunnel, the rail operator that carries passengers and freight between Britain and mainland Europe, also suspended service out of the U.K.

Sophie Taxil, a Frenchwoman who lives in London, caught a train back home from Paris and urged everyone in Britain to follow the rules.

“I live there and I need to go back there; my family is there,” she said. “I think that phlegmatic British nature suits these COVID times: Stay calm and carry on, fair play.”

Over the weekend, Johnson said early indications are that the variant is 70% more transmissible and is driving the rapid spread of infections in the capital and surrounding areas.

As a result, he scrapped a planned relaxation of rules over Christmastime for millions of people and imposed other tough new restrictions in the affected zone. No indoor mixing of households will be allowed, and only essential travel will be permitted. Stores selling nonessential goods were ordered closed, putting a crimp in Christmas shopping.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said that while preliminary analysis suggests the new variant is “significantly more transmissible,” there is no indication that infections are more severe. Still, experts have stressed that more infections will lead to more hospitalizations and deaths.

The Stockholm-based agency said a few cases of the variant have been reported by Iceland, Denmark and the Netherlands. It also cited news reports of cases in Belgium and Italy.

With the rollout of coronavirus vaccines set to pick up speed in early 2021, countries are clearly worried about the new variant.

“I think the vaccine will be fine,” said Dr. Julian Tang, a clinical virologist at the University of Leicester. But the new strain “is spreading so fast we may not be able to reach the vulnerable population, the elderly, in time with the vaccine before the virus does.”

The chaos at the border comes at a time of huge uncertainty for Britain, less than two weeks before it completes its exit from the EU and frees itself from the bloc’s rules. Talks on a post-Brexit trade relationship between the two sides are deadlocked.

The retail industry played down fears of food shortages in the short term but warned of problems if the travel bans last for a while and if Britain and the EU fail to reach a trade deal. Trade association Logistics U.K. urged people to stay calm and resist panic-buying in supermarkets.

“If freight gets moving again today, then the overall impact on fresh produce arriving to supermarkets should be fairly minimal,” said Kevin Green, the association’s director of marketing and communications

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608566572342.png" alt="VIrus image courtesy GISAID" />
 <figcaption>VIrus image courtesy GISAID</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — Trucks waiting to get out of Britain backed up for miles and people were left stranded at airports Monday as dozens of countries around the world slapped tough travel restrictions on the U.K. because of a new and seemingly more contagious strain of the coronavirus in England.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/global-trade-england-english-channel-coronavirus-pandemic-france-83ef15eac10bade1859a0d321d4b5448">The restrictions focus mainly on Britain</a>, which imposed strict new lockdown measures Saturday night because of what it described as the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-england-coronavirus-pandemic-africa-south-africa-74ea2d47820b8dcac02f95ad9440f533">unusually rapid spread of a new strain&nbsp;</a>there. A few other European countries have confirmed cases of the virus variant, and another strain considered especially infectious has been identified in South Africa.From Canada to India, one nation after another banned flights from Britain, while France barred the entry of trucks from Britain for 48 hours while the strain is assessed.The precautions raised fears of food shortages in Britain if the restrictions drag on.After a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he understood the reason for the new measures and expressed hope for a swift resumption in the free flow of traffic between the U.K. and France, perhaps within a few hours.He said officials from both countries were working “to unblock the flow of trade as fast as possible.” Macron said earlier that France was looking at establishing systematic testing of people for the virus on arrival.Over the weekend, Johnson imposed strict lockdown measures in London and neighboring areas where Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the new strain is “out of control.” Experts said the early evidence indicates the strain is not more lethal, and they expressed confidence that the vaccines now being rolled out would still be effective against it.After France announced Sunday night that it was closing its borders to trucks from Britain, hundreds of vehicles, mainly operated by drivers from continental Europe, became stranded outside the English Channel port of Dover. The lines shrank over the course of the day from 500 trucks to about 175, authorities said.Around 10,000 trucks pass through the port of Dover every day, accounting for about 20% of the country’s trade in goods.Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-amsterdam-europe-4cd75619772c208c29fddbcb02d25b9e">European Union gave the go-ahead to the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech</a>, setting the stage for the first COVID-19 shots across the 27-nation bloc to begin just after Christmas.“This is a very good way to end this difficult year and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.The approval came just hours after the EU’s drug regulatory agency said the vaccine meets safety and quality standards. It is already being dispensed in Britain and the U.S.The virus is blamed for 1.7 million deaths worldwide, including about 68,000 in Britain, the second-highest death toll in Europe, behind Italy’s 69,000.While the French ban does not prevent trucks from entering Britain, the move stoked worries about shortages at a time of year when the UK produces very little of its food and relies heavily on produce delivered from Europe by truck.Many trucks that carry cargo from the U.K. to the continent return laden with goods for Britain’s use. The fear is that the ban will lead to a drop in such deliveries. Also, some drivers or their employers might decide against entering Britain for fear they won’t be able to get back home.Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s warned that some products, such as lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus fruits, could soon be in short supply if the crisis not resolved in the coming days.Canada, India, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden were among the countries that suspended flights from Britain for various lengths of time.In the United States, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been calling on the U.S. to halt flights as well, said he asked airlines flying into his state from the U.K. to make all passengers take a coronavirus test before boarding. He said at least one carrier, British Airways, agreed to do so.At Germany’s Berlin and Frankfurt airports, passengers arriving from Britain had to spend Sunday night in the terminals as they awaited test results.Eurotunnel, the rail operator that carries passengers and freight between Britain and mainland Europe, also suspended service out of the U.K.Sophie Taxil, a Frenchwoman who lives in London, caught a train back home from Paris and urged everyone in Britain to follow the rules.“I live there and I need to go back there; my family is there,” she said. “I think that phlegmatic British nature suits these COVID times: Stay calm and carry on, fair play.”Over the weekend, Johnson said early indications are that the variant is 70% more transmissible and is driving the rapid spread of infections in the capital and surrounding areas.As a result, he scrapped a planned relaxation of rules over Christmastime for millions of people and imposed other tough new restrictions in the affected zone. No indoor mixing of households will be allowed, and only essential travel will be permitted. Stores selling nonessential goods were ordered closed, putting a crimp in Christmas shopping.The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said that while preliminary analysis suggests the new variant is “significantly more transmissible,” there is no indication that infections are more severe. Still, experts have stressed that more infections will lead to more hospitalizations and deaths.The Stockholm-based agency said a few cases of the variant have been reported by Iceland, Denmark and the Netherlands. It also cited news reports of cases in Belgium and Italy.With the rollout of coronavirus vaccines set to pick up speed in early 2021, countries are clearly worried about the new variant.“I think the vaccine will be fine,” said Dr. Julian Tang, a clinical virologist at the University of Leicester. But the new strain “is spreading so fast we may not be able to reach the vulnerable population, the elderly, in time with the vaccine before the virus does.”The chaos at the border comes at a time of huge uncertainty for Britain, less than two weeks before it completes its exit from the EU and frees itself from the bloc’s rules. Talks on a post-Brexit trade relationship between the two sides are deadlocked.The retail industry played down fears of food shortages in the short term but warned of problems if the travel bans last for a while and if Britain and the EU fail to reach a trade deal. Trade association Logistics U.K. urged people to stay calm and resist panic-buying in supermarkets.“If freight gets moving again today, then the overall impact on fresh produce arriving to supermarkets should be fairly minimal,” said Kevin Green, the association’s director of marketing and communications___

Fast-moving new variant of the COVID-19 spreads

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times higher than the general population. In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.

As the pandemic enters its 10th month — and as the first Americans begin to receive a long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine — at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, more than 1,700 have died and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing. New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August.

“That number is a vast undercount,” said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.

Venters has conducted more than a dozen court-ordered COVID-19 prison inspections around the country. “I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” he said.

Now the rollout of vaccines poses difficult decisions for politicians and policymakers. As the virus spreads largely unchecked behind bars, prisoners can’t social distance and are dependent on the state for their safety and well-being.

Donte Westmoreland, 26, was recently released from Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas, where he caught the virus while serving time on a marijuana charge. Some 5,100 prisoners have become infected in Kansas prisons, the third-highest COVID-19 rate in the country, behind only South Dakota and Arkansas.

“It was like I was sentenced to death,” Westmoreland said.

Westmoreland lived with more than 100 virus-infected men in an open dorm, where he woke up regularly to find men sick on the floor, unable to get up on their own, he said.

“People are actually dying in front of me off of this virus,” he said. “It’s the scariest sight.” Westmoreland said he sweated it out, shivering in his bunk until, six weeks later, he finally recovered.

Half of the prisoners in Kansas have been infected with COVID-19 — eight times the rate of cases among the state’s overall population. Eleven prisoners have died, including five at the prison where Westmoreland was held. Of the three prison employees who have died in Kansas, two worked at Lansing Correctional Facility.

In Arkansas, where more than 9,700 prisoners have tested positive and 50 have died, four of every seven have had the virus, the second-highest prison infection rate in the U.S.

Among the dead was 29-year-old Derick Coley, who was serving a 20-year sentence at the Cummins Unit maximum security prison. Cece Tate, Coley’s girlfriend, said she last talked with him on April 10 when he said he was sick and showing symptoms of the virus.

“It took forever for me to get information,” she said. The prison finally told her on April 20 that Coley had tested positive for the virus. Less than two weeks later, a prison chaplain called on May 2 to tell her Coley had died.

The couple had a daughter who turned 9 in July. “She cried and was like, ‘My daddy can’t send me a birthday card,’” Tate said. “She was like, ‘Momma, my Christmas ain’t going to be the same.’”

Nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them. In facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons, one of every five prisoners has had coronavirus. Twenty-four state prison systems have had even higher rates.

Prison workers have also been disproportionately affected. In North Dakota, four of every five prison staff has gotten coronavirus. Nationwide, it’s one in five.

Not all states release how many prisoners they’ve tested, but states that test prisoners broadly and regularly may appear to have higher case rates than states that don’t.

<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons" target="_blank">Infection rates as of Tuesday were calculated by the AP and The Marshall Project,&nbsp;</a>a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/18/1-in-5-prisoners-in-the-u-s-has-had-covid-19" target="_blank">based on data collected weekly in prisons since March.</a>&nbsp;Infection and mortality rates may be even higher, since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-understanding-the-outbreak-prisons-health-lifestyle-9899b08a66a60f3106b563eb07c92c40">nearly every prison system has significantly fewer prisoners today</a>&nbsp;than when the pandemic began, so rates represent a conservative estimate based on the largest known population.

Yet, as vaccine campaigns get underway, there has been pushback in some states against giving the shots to people in prisons early.

“There’s no way it’s going to go to prisoners ... before it goes to the people who haven’t committed any crime,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told reporters earlier this month after his state’s initial vaccine priority plans put prisoners before the general public.

Like more than a dozen states, Kansas’s vaccination plan does not mention prisoners or corrections staff, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a non-partisan prison data think tank. Seven states put prisoners near the front of the line, along with others living in crowded settings like nursing homes and long-term care facilities. An additional 19 states have placed prisoners in the second phase of their vaccine rollouts.

Racial disparities in the nation’s criminal justice system compound the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on communities of color. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites. They are also disproportionately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/mounting-u-s-deaths-reveal-an-outsize-toll-on-people-of-color#:~:text=As%20many%20as%20215%2C000%20more,higher%20than%20the%20official%20toll." target="_blank">likely to be infected and hospitalized with COVID-19,</a>&nbsp;and are more likely than other races to have a family member or close friend who has died of the virus.

The pandemic “increases risk for those who are already at risk,” said David J. Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.

This week, a Council on Criminal Justice task force headed by former attorneys general Alberto Gonzalez and Loretta Lynch released a report calling for scaling back prison populations, improving communication with public health departments and reporting better data.

Prison facilities are often overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Dormitory-style housing, cafeterias and open-bar cell doors make it nearly impossible to quarantine. Prison populations are sicker, on average, than the general population and health care behind bars is notoriously substandard. Nationwide, the mortality rate for COVID-19 among prisoners is 45% higher than the overall rate.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, public health experts called for widespread prison releases as the best way to curb virus spread behind bars. In October, the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering released a report urging states to empty their prisons of anyone who was medically vulnerable, nearing the end of their sentence or of low risk to public safety.

But releases have been slow and uneven. In the first three months of the pandemic, more than 10,000 federal prisoners applied for compassionate release. Wardens denied or did not respond to almost all those requests, approving only 156 — less than 2%.

A plan to thin the state prison population in New Jersey, first introduced in June, was held up in the Legislature because of inadequate funding to help those who were released. About 2,200 prisoners with less than a year left to serve were ultimately released in November, eight months after the pandemic began.

California used a similar strategy to release 11,000 people since March. But state prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails at several points during the pandemic, which simply shifted the burden to the jails. According to the state corrections agency, more than 8,000 people are now waiting in California’s county jails, which are also coronavirus hot spots.

“We call that ‘screwing county,’” said John Wetzel, Pennsylvania’s secretary of corrections, whose prison system has one of the lower COVID-19 case rates in the country, with one in every seven prisoners infected. But that’s still more than three times the statewide rate.

Prison walls are porous even during a pandemic, with corrections officers and other employees traveling in and out each day.

“The interchange between communities and prisons and jails has always been there, but in the context of COVID-19 it’s never been more clear,” said Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, a professor of social medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies incarceration and health. “We have to stop thinking about them as a place apart.”

Wetzel said Pennsylvania’s prisons have kept virus rates relatively low by widely distributing masks in mid-March — weeks before even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending them for everyday use in public — and demanding that staff and prisoners use them properly and consistently. But prisoners and advocates say prevention measures on the ground are uneven, regardless of Wetzel’s good intentions.

As the country heads into winter with virus infections on the rise, experts caution that unless COVID-19 is brought under control behind bars, the country will not get it under control in the population at large.

“If we are going to end this pandemic — bring down infection rates, bring down death rates, bring down ICU occupancy rates — we have to address infection rates in correctional facilities,” said Emily Wang, professor at Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the recent National Academies report.

“Infections and deaths are extraordinarily high. These are wards of the state, and we have to contend with it.”

This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and The Marshall Project exploring the state of the prison system in the coronavirus pandemic.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585707946815.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times higher than the general population. In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.As the pandemic enters its 10th month — and as the first Americans begin to receive a long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine — at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, more than 1,700 have died and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing. New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August.“That number is a vast undercount,” said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.Venters has conducted more than a dozen court-ordered COVID-19 prison inspections around the country. “I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” he said.Now the rollout of vaccines poses difficult decisions for politicians and policymakers. As the virus spreads largely unchecked behind bars, prisoners can’t social distance and are dependent on the state for their safety and well-being.Donte Westmoreland, 26, was recently released from Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas, where he caught the virus while serving time on a marijuana charge. Some 5,100 prisoners have become infected in Kansas prisons, the third-highest COVID-19 rate in the country, behind only South Dakota and Arkansas.“It was like I was sentenced to death,” Westmoreland said.Westmoreland lived with more than 100 virus-infected men in an open dorm, where he woke up regularly to find men sick on the floor, unable to get up on their own, he said.“People are actually dying in front of me off of this virus,” he said. “It’s the scariest sight.” Westmoreland said he sweated it out, shivering in his bunk until, six weeks later, he finally recovered.Half of the prisoners in Kansas have been infected with COVID-19 — eight times the rate of cases among the state’s overall population. Eleven prisoners have died, including five at the prison where Westmoreland was held. Of the three prison employees who have died in Kansas, two worked at Lansing Correctional Facility.In Arkansas, where more than 9,700 prisoners have tested positive and 50 have died, four of every seven have had the virus, the second-highest prison infection rate in the U.S.Among the dead was 29-year-old Derick Coley, who was serving a 20-year sentence at the Cummins Unit maximum security prison. Cece Tate, Coley’s girlfriend, said she last talked with him on April 10 when he said he was sick and showing symptoms of the virus.“It took forever for me to get information,” she said. The prison finally told her on April 20 that Coley had tested positive for the virus. Less than two weeks later, a prison chaplain called on May 2 to tell her Coley had died.The couple had a daughter who turned 9 in July. “She cried and was like, ‘My daddy can’t send me a birthday card,’” Tate said. “She was like, ‘Momma, my Christmas ain’t going to be the same.’”Nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them. In facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons, one of every five prisoners has had coronavirus. Twenty-four state prison systems have had even higher rates.Prison workers have also been disproportionately affected. In North Dakota, four of every five prison staff has gotten coronavirus. Nationwide, it’s one in five.Not all states release how many prisoners they’ve tested, but states that test prisoners broadly and regularly may appear to have higher case rates than states that don’t.<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons" target="_blank">Infection rates as of Tuesday were calculated by the AP and The Marshall Project,&nbsp;</a>a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/18/1-in-5-prisoners-in-the-u-s-has-had-covid-19" target="_blank">based on data collected weekly in prisons since March.</a>&nbsp;Infection and mortality rates may be even higher, since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-understanding-the-outbreak-prisons-health-lifestyle-9899b08a66a60f3106b563eb07c92c40">nearly every prison system has significantly fewer prisoners today</a>&nbsp;than when the pandemic began, so rates represent a conservative estimate based on the largest known population.Yet, as vaccine campaigns get underway, there has been pushback in some states against giving the shots to people in prisons early.“There’s no way it’s going to go to prisoners ... before it goes to the people who haven’t committed any crime,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told reporters earlier this month after his state’s initial vaccine priority plans put prisoners before the general public.Like more than a dozen states, Kansas’s vaccination plan does not mention prisoners or corrections staff, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a non-partisan prison data think tank. Seven states put prisoners near the front of the line, along with others living in crowded settings like nursing homes and long-term care facilities. An additional 19 states have placed prisoners in the second phase of their vaccine rollouts.Racial disparities in the nation’s criminal justice system compound the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on communities of color. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites. They are also disproportionately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/mounting-u-s-deaths-reveal-an-outsize-toll-on-people-of-color#:~:text=As%20many%20as%20215%2C000%20more,higher%20than%20the%20official%20toll." target="_blank">likely to be infected and hospitalized with COVID-19,</a>&nbsp;and are more likely than other races to have a family member or close friend who has died of the virus.The pandemic “increases risk for those who are already at risk,” said David J. Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.This week, a Council on Criminal Justice task force headed by former attorneys general Alberto Gonzalez and Loretta Lynch released a report calling for scaling back prison populations, improving communication with public health departments and reporting better data.Prison facilities are often overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Dormitory-style housing, cafeterias and open-bar cell doors make it nearly impossible to quarantine. Prison populations are sicker, on average, than the general population and health care behind bars is notoriously substandard. Nationwide, the mortality rate for COVID-19 among prisoners is 45% higher than the overall rate.From the earliest days of the pandemic, public health experts called for widespread prison releases as the best way to curb virus spread behind bars. In October, the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering released a report urging states to empty their prisons of anyone who was medically vulnerable, nearing the end of their sentence or of low risk to public safety.But releases have been slow and uneven. In the first three months of the pandemic, more than 10,000 federal prisoners applied for compassionate release. Wardens denied or did not respond to almost all those requests, approving only 156 — less than 2%.A plan to thin the state prison population in New Jersey, first introduced in June, was held up in the Legislature because of inadequate funding to help those who were released. About 2,200 prisoners with less than a year left to serve were ultimately released in November, eight months after the pandemic began.California used a similar strategy to release 11,000 people since March. But state prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails at several points during the pandemic, which simply shifted the burden to the jails. According to the state corrections agency, more than 8,000 people are now waiting in California’s county jails, which are also coronavirus hot spots.“We call that ‘screwing county,’” said John Wetzel, Pennsylvania’s secretary of corrections, whose prison system has one of the lower COVID-19 case rates in the country, with one in every seven prisoners infected. But that’s still more than three times the statewide rate.Prison walls are porous even during a pandemic, with corrections officers and other employees traveling in and out each day.“The interchange between communities and prisons and jails has always been there, but in the context of COVID-19 it’s never been more clear,” said Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, a professor of social medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies incarceration and health. “We have to stop thinking about them as a place apart.”Wetzel said Pennsylvania’s prisons have kept virus rates relatively low by widely distributing masks in mid-March — weeks before even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending them for everyday use in public — and demanding that staff and prisoners use them properly and consistently. But prisoners and advocates say prevention measures on the ground are uneven, regardless of Wetzel’s good intentions.As the country heads into winter with virus infections on the rise, experts caution that unless COVID-19 is brought under control behind bars, the country will not get it under control in the population at large.“If we are going to end this pandemic — bring down infection rates, bring down death rates, bring down ICU occupancy rates — we have to address infection rates in correctional facilities,” said Emily Wang, professor at Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the recent National Academies report.“Infections and deaths are extraordinarily high. These are wards of the state, and we have to contend with it.”------This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and The Marshall Project exploring the state of the prison system in the coronavirus pandemic.___

1 in 5 prisoners in the US has had COVID-19, 1,700 have died

NEWARK, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?507490-1/president-elect-biden-receives-covid-19-vaccine">Click here to</a> watch Joe Biden get his vaccination

The president-elect took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his Delaware home, hours after his wife, Jill Biden, did the same. The injections came the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, will start arriving in states. It joins Pfizer’s in the nation’s arsenal against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 317,000 people in the United States and upended life around the globe.

“I’m ready,” said Biden, who was administered the dose at a hospital in Newark, Delaware, and declined the option to count to three before the needle was inserted into his left arm. “I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The president-elect praised the health care workers and said President Donald Trump’s administration “deserves some credit getting this off the ground.” And Biden urged Americans to wear masks during the upcoming Christmas holiday and not travel unless necessary.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband are expected to receive their first shots next week.

Other top government officials have been in the first wave of Americans to be inoculated against COVID-19 as part of the largest largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history.

Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-pence-wife-coronavirus-vaccine-0489a0b64d4353bc693ad1691ff5de1d">were given doses Friday.&nbsp;</a>They chose to publicize their injections as part of a campaign to convince Americans that the vaccines are safe and effective amid skepticism, especially among Republicans.

President Donald Trump is discussing with his doctors the timing for taking the vaccine, the White House has said. He tweeted earlier this month that he was “not scheduled” to take the vaccine but that he looked “forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”

The White House has offered another reason for waiting, saying Trump was showing support for the most vulnerable to get the vaccine first.

Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October and given an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment that he credited for his swift recovery. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory board has said people who received that treatment should wait at least 90 days to be vaccinated to avoid any potential interference.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, and other experts have recommended that Trump be vaccinated without delay as a precaution.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608585518239.png" alt="President-elect Joe Biden and&nbsp; Dr. Jill Biden took the Pfizer vaccine Monday afternoon-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>President-elect Joe Biden and&nbsp; Dr. Jill Biden took the Pfizer vaccine Monday afternoon-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>NEWARK, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?507490-1/president-elect-biden-receives-covid-19-vaccine">Click here to</a> watch Joe Biden get his vaccinationThe president-elect took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his Delaware home, hours after his wife, Jill Biden, did the same. The injections came the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, will start arriving in states. It joins Pfizer’s in the nation’s arsenal against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 317,000 people in the United States and upended life around the globe.“I’m ready,” said Biden, who was administered the dose at a hospital in Newark, Delaware, and declined the option to count to three before the needle was inserted into his left arm. “I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about.”The president-elect praised the health care workers and said President Donald Trump’s administration “deserves some credit getting this off the ground.” And Biden urged Americans to wear masks during the upcoming Christmas holiday and not travel unless necessary.Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband are expected to receive their first shots next week.Other top government officials have been in the first wave of Americans to be inoculated against COVID-19 as part of the largest largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history.Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-pence-wife-coronavirus-vaccine-0489a0b64d4353bc693ad1691ff5de1d">were given doses Friday.&nbsp;</a>They chose to publicize their injections as part of a campaign to convince Americans that the vaccines are safe and effective amid skepticism, especially among Republicans.President Donald Trump is discussing with his doctors the timing for taking the vaccine, the White House has said. He tweeted earlier this month that he was “not scheduled” to take the vaccine but that he looked “forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”The White House has offered another reason for waiting, saying Trump was showing support for the most vulnerable to get the vaccine first.Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October and given an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment that he credited for his swift recovery. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory board has said people who received that treatment should wait at least 90 days to be vaccinated to avoid any potential interference.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, and other experts have recommended that Trump be vaccinated without delay as a precaution.___

🎥  Pres.-elect, wife gets virus vaccinations

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Four Midwestern universities have formed a space-oriented academic and research alliance aimed at luring the U.S. Space Command headquarters to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that University of Nebraska President Ted Carter says the partnership with the University of North Dakota, Kansas State University and Purdue would develop new degree programs and research initiatives. 

Offutt is among the six finalists to become the headquarters. 

Other finalists are Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Four Midwestern universities have formed a space-oriented academic and research alliance aimed at luring the U.S. Space Command headquarters to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reports that University of Nebraska President Ted Carter says the partnership with the University of North Dakota, Kansas State University and Purdue would develop new degree programs and research initiatives. Offutt is among the six finalists to become the headquarters. Other finalists are Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas.

Midwestern universities form alliance to lure Space Command

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — From selling take-and-bake meals to mask-making, South Dakota businesses have had to be innovative to find ways to stay afloat during the pandemic.

 In Sioux Falls, food trucks are offering delivery, retailers are selling their wares on Facebook Live and some stores are reserving time for customers to shop privately. 

Entrepreneur Matt Paulson told the Argus Leader that innovation is necessary to keep businesses alive and thriving.

 He says while many businesses will return to normal after the pandemic, some of the changes seen in 2020 will likely stick around.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — From selling take-and-bake meals to mask-making, South Dakota businesses have had to be innovative to find ways to stay afloat during the pandemic. In Sioux Falls, food trucks are offering delivery, retailers are selling their wares on Facebook Live and some stores are reserving time for customers to shop privately. Entrepreneur Matt Paulson told the Argus Leader that innovation is necessary to keep businesses alive and thriving. He says while many businesses will return to normal after the pandemic, some of the changes seen in 2020 will likely stick around.

South Dakota businesses adapt to stay afloat during pandemic

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky Monday, appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century.

Astronomers say so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn" target="_blank">conjunctions</a>&nbsp;between the two largest planets in our solar system aren’t particularly rare. Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in their respective laps around the sun every 20 years.

But the one coming up is especially close: Jupiter and Saturn will be just one-tenth of a degree apart from our perspective or about one-fifth the width of a full moon. They should be easily visible around the world a little after sunset, weather permitting.

Toss in the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year — and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere — and this just-in-time-for-Christmas spectacle promises to be one of the greatest of Great Conjunctions.

“What is most rare is a close conjunction that occurs in our nighttime sky,” said Vanderbilt University’s David Weintraub, an astronomy professor. “I think it’s fair to say that such an event typically may occur just once in any one person’s lifetime, and I think ‘once in my lifetime’ is a pretty good test of whether something merits being labeled as rare or special.”

It will be the closest Jupiter-Saturn pairing since July 1623, when the two planets appeared a little nearer. This conjunction was almost impossible to see, however, because of its closeness to the sun.

Considerably closer and in plain view was the March 1226 conjunction of the two planets — when Genghis Khan was conquering Asia. Monday’s conjunction will be the closest pairing that is visible since way back then.

Saturn and Jupiter have been drawing closer in the south-southwest sky for weeks. Jupiter — bigger and closer to Earth — is vastly brighter.

“I love watching them come closer and closer to each other and the fact that I can see it with my naked eyes from my back porch!” Virginia Tech astronomer Nahum Arav said in an email.

To see it, be ready shortly after sunset Monday, looking to the southwest fairly low on the horizon. Saturn will be the smaller, fainter blob at Jupiter’s upper right. Binoculars will be needed to separate the two planets.

Despite appearances, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 450 million miles (730 million kilometers) apart. Earth, meanwhile, will be 550 million miles (890 million kilometers) from Jupiter.

A telescope will not only capture Jupiter and Saturn in the same field of view, but even some of their brightest moons.

Their next super-close pairing: March 15, 2080.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608560680810.png" alt="Image courtesy NASA" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy NASA</figcaption>
 </figure>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky Monday, appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Skywatchers, you&#39;re in for a once-in-a-lifetime treat! Jupiter &amp; Saturn are doing a planetary dance that will result in the Great Conjunction on Dec 21, just after sunset. Find out: 🤩 When and where to look up 📷 How to photograph the conjunction Visit: <a href="https://t.co/SdQSLex2Ex">https://t.co/SdQSLex2Ex</a> <a href="https://t.co/DkaB5XyO9B">pic.twitter.com/DkaB5XyO9B</a>&mdash; NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1340750321879015425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Astronomers say so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn" target="_blank">conjunctions</a>&nbsp;between the two largest planets in our solar system aren’t particularly rare. Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in their respective laps around the sun every 20 years.But the one coming up is especially close: Jupiter and Saturn will be just one-tenth of a degree apart from our perspective or about one-fifth the width of a full moon. They should be easily visible around the world a little after sunset, weather permitting.Toss in the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year — and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere — and this just-in-time-for-Christmas spectacle promises to be one of the greatest of Great Conjunctions.“What is most rare is a close conjunction that occurs in our nighttime sky,” said Vanderbilt University’s David Weintraub, an astronomy professor. “I think it’s fair to say that such an event typically may occur just once in any one person’s lifetime, and I think ‘once in my lifetime’ is a pretty good test of whether something merits being labeled as rare or special.”It will be the closest Jupiter-Saturn pairing since July 1623, when the two planets appeared a little nearer. This conjunction was almost impossible to see, however, because of its closeness to the sun.Considerably closer and in plain view was the March 1226 conjunction of the two planets — when Genghis Khan was conquering Asia. Monday’s conjunction will be the closest pairing that is visible since way back then.Saturn and Jupiter have been drawing closer in the south-southwest sky for weeks. Jupiter — bigger and closer to Earth — is vastly brighter.“I love watching them come closer and closer to each other and the fact that I can see it with my naked eyes from my back porch!” Virginia Tech astronomer Nahum Arav said in an email.To see it, be ready shortly after sunset Monday, looking to the southwest fairly low on the horizon. Saturn will be the smaller, fainter blob at Jupiter’s upper right. Binoculars will be needed to separate the two planets.Despite appearances, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 450 million miles (730 million kilometers) apart. Earth, meanwhile, will be 550 million miles (890 million kilometers) from Jupiter.A telescope will not only capture Jupiter and Saturn in the same field of view, but even some of their brightest moons.Their next super-close pairing: March 15, 2080.___

Jupiter, Saturn closest in centuries Monday evening

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The city of Omaha will pay $50,000 to a woman injured in a 2017 crash involving a police cruiser. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the City Council approved the settlement with Rachelle Stuart earlier this month.

 City and court documents show that Stuart was a passenger in a car when a police cruiser driven by Officer Ryne Sell struck the vehicle.

A police report says video footage from Sell’s vehicle camera showed that his car entered the intersection when the light was red.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The city of Omaha will pay $50,000 to a woman injured in a 2017 crash involving a police cruiser. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the City Council approved the settlement with Rachelle Stuart earlier this month. City and court documents show that Stuart was a passenger in a car when a police cruiser driven by Officer Ryne Sell struck the vehicle. Stuart suffered a shoulder injury. A police report says video footage from Sell’s vehicle camera showed that his car entered the intersection when the light was red. Three witnesses cited in the report told police that the cruiser had its emergency lights activated.