usatoday--2020-09-15--Yes, Rochester police, the death of mentally ill Daniel Prude  is 'your guys' fault'

Daniel Prude ’ s killing by police in Rochester , New York , is the nightmare my family avoided when my sister had a psychotic episode nine years ago .
It ’ s not just the horrific and preventable loss of Mr. Prude ’ s life that pains me .
I wince at the casual cruelty of the officers who encountered him that night , which mirrors our society 's continuing disregard for people with mental illness .
They treated him as less than human , like an “ animal , ” in the words of Mr. Prude ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ms. Prude expresses the feelings common to many of us forced to surrender some control to authorities in the hopes of helping a relative in crisis , saying , “ I had no way to be there to comfort him or help him with that kind of situation.
” On Monday , six months after Mr. Prude was killed in March , Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren fired her police chief ; suspended the city 's attorney and communications director ; and invited the U.S. Justice Department and Rochester 's Office of Public Integrity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's death brings me back to my sister ’ s first and only psychotic break .
She ’ d wandered from our apartment partially clothed .
When my father called with those details , I knew that something was grievously wrong with her mental state .
The security guard at our complex brought my sister home with calm compassion and later told my father that his brother had a mental illness .
I shudder at what could have happened if police had arrived and escalated the situation by shouting commands she couldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confused state .
I didn ’ t call for an ambulance that day .
A mobile crisis unit dispatcher , who said we ’ d have to wait up to 48 hours for them , warned police would come if we called 911 .
It took hours to coax Erica into a taxi to the ER .
She later fought with hospital staff when they tried to prevent her from leaving .
They tied her down in restraints and sedated her .
She was hospitalized for three months and diagnosed with schizophrenia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Mr. Prude if officers had begun by asking , “ What ’ s going on ?
Are you okay ?
Do you need help ?
” and offered a blanket .
Instead they pointed a Taser and shouted , “ Get on the ground.
” At 30 seconds in , an officer grins at the camera .
I can ’ t know what ’ s running through his mind , but this expression doesn ’ t suggest the grave concern or threat that necessitates suffocating another human being .
Another officer laughs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see a family ’ s son , brother , cousin , nephew and father in distress .
He sees a joke .
In an encounter that lasts 10:37 minutes , officers violated the de-escalation principles taught in police crisis intervention training ( CIT ) of using time and space to calm a situation .
It takes only a few brutal , efficient minutes to extinguish a life .
“ It ’ s not your guys ’ fault , ” the paramedic assures the officers ( 8:56 ) .
“ You have to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : My sister does n't have COVID-19 , but I 'm scared she wo n't make it out of 2020 I can not see the threat Mr. Prude posed as he lay handcuffed , unarmed and naked in below-freezing temperatures as light snow fell on his bare back , outnumbered by seven officers .
Rochester police , it is your fault , and our society ’ s failure , every time law enforcement kills a sick person .
We must address the stigma and misconceptions about mental illness and the structural racism baked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men as dangerous .
We must , as sociologist Rashawn Ray argues , “ replant the roots of rotten trees within law enforcement .
To deal with rotten roots , America needs to be honest that law enforcement originated from slave patrols meant to capture my descendants who aimed to flee from enslavement.
” In the long-term we must divert funds to rebuild our crumbling mental health care infrastructure so that crises don ’ t escalate in the first place .
Police shouldn ’ t serve as our first-line responders to mental health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system we have until we implement expansive medically-informed , non-police systems of mental health response , such as the groundbreaking CAHOOTS program in Eugene , Oregon , which dispatches teams of medics and mental health workers to provide 24/7 mobile crisis intervention .
At minimum we must ensure every officer receives CIT training and the House should pass a bipartisan Senate billto designate 9-8-8 as a national suicide and mental health crisis hotline .
I still struggle to understand my sister ’ s illness .
To educate myself , I attended a 12-week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a mental illness through the National Alliance on Mental Illness .
My classmates , mostly white , middle and upper-middle class parents of adult children , struggled to navigate a frayed mental health system despite their privileges .
We learned to ask for CIT-trained officers if we had to call 911 .
But several cases in which family members informed police of mental health problems have led to tragic outcomes .
Most recently , a Utah mother of a 13-year-old with autism and anxiety called police , asking for a crisis intervention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and lack of weapon .
Police still shot her son several times .
Police reform : Why support for criminal justice reform is n't the same as being anti-police Psychosis symptoms confound the public and family members like me .
But I expect officers who wield guns , weapons and the power to take life to have a finer-tuned knowledge of the increased sensory sensitivity that makes lights seem too bright and noises too loud to someone in a psychotic state .
They should understand the memory , attention and concentration problems , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following commands .
Before applying force , they must consider the heightened danger of “ less lethal ” weapons such as Tasers to the roughly 25 % of people with a serious mental illness who also have a substance use disorder .
The patients I met during my own hospitalization for depression and suicidal thoughts almost two decades ago remind me that people with a mental illness have a higher risk of experiencing harm than perpetrating crime .
One gentle woman claimed to see God during dinner , as I chatted with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pumped after overdosing on Tylenol .
Another man jogged down the hall with feces-stained pants .
People screamed and cried .
I was scared but soon learned that most , if not all , of my fellow sufferers posed more danger to themselves than to others .
They were sick like me .
As the pandemic continues , mental health crises will likely increase .
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed elevated reporting of worsening mental health , substance abuse and suicidal ideation , and urged prioritizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , racial and ethnic minorities , and people with preexisting psychiatric conditions .
With no end in sight to the harm for people with mental illness at the hands of law enforcement , distrust and wariness about seeking help will also grow .
Attempting to see the world from another ’ s eyes requires empathy , compassion and imagination .
It ’ s too late for Daniel Prude , but we can and must do better to preserve the lives of people with mental illness .
If we can ’ t make this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so many newly aware of their delicate mental health , when ?
It ’ s time .
Stacy Torres is an assistant professor of sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at University of California , San Francisco .

Yes, Rochester police, the death of mentally ill Daniel Prude is 'your guys’ fault' Psychosis symptoms confound the public and family members like me. But I expect officers with guns, weapons and the power to take lives to know more.
Daniel Prude’s killing by police in Rochester, New York, is the nightmare my family avoided when my sister had a psychotic episode nine years ago.
It’s not just the horrific and preventable loss of Mr. Prude’s life that pains me. I wince at the casual cruelty of the officers who encountered him that night, which mirrors our society's continuing disregard for people with mental illness.
They treated him as less than human, like an “animal,” in the words of Mr. Prude’s daughter Tashyra and his brother Joe. Ms. Prude expresses the feelings common to many of us forced to surrender some control to authorities in the hopes of helping a relative in crisis, saying, “I had no way to be there to comfort him or help him with that kind of situation.”
On Monday, six months after Mr. Prude was killed in March, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren fired her police chief; suspended the city's attorney and communications director; and invited the U.S. Justice Department and Rochester's Office of Public Integrity to investigate.
Handcuffed, unarmed and no threat
Footage of Mr. Prude's death brings me back to my sister’s first and only psychotic break. She’d wandered from our apartment partially clothed. When my father called with those details, I knew that something was grievously wrong with her mental state.
USA TODAY News: People with disabilities protest police violence, COVID-19 discrimination
The security guard at our complex brought my sister home with calm compassion and later told my father that his brother had a mental illness. I shudder at what could have happened if police had arrived and escalated the situation by shouting commands she couldn’t comply with in her agitated and confused state.
I didn’t call for an ambulance that day. A mobile crisis unit dispatcher, who said we’d have to wait up to 48 hours for them, warned police would come if we called 911. It took hours to coax Erica into a taxi to the ER. She later fought with hospital staff when they tried to prevent her from leaving. They tied her down in restraints and sedated her. She was hospitalized for three months and diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Imagine how differently things might have unfolded for Mr. Prude if officers had begun by asking, “What’s going on? Are you okay? Do you need help?” and offered a blanket. Instead they pointed a Taser and shouted, “Get on the ground.”
At 30 seconds in, an officer grins at the camera. I can’t know what’s running through his mind, but this expression doesn’t suggest the grave concern or threat that necessitates suffocating another human being. Another officer laughs at 3:27. He doesn’t see a family’s son, brother, cousin, nephew and father in distress. He sees a joke.
In an encounter that lasts 10:37 minutes, officers violated the de-escalation principles taught in police crisis intervention training (CIT) of using time and space to calm a situation. It takes only a few brutal, efficient minutes to extinguish a life. “It’s not your guys’ fault,” the paramedic assures the officers (8:56). “You have to keep yourselves safe.”
Dealing with mental illness: My sister doesn't have COVID-19, but I'm scared she won't make it out of 2020
I cannot see the threat Mr. Prude posed as he lay handcuffed, unarmed and naked in below-freezing temperatures as light snow fell on his bare back, outnumbered by seven officers. Rochester police, it is your fault, and our society’s failure, every time law enforcement kills a sick person.
We must address the stigma and misconceptions about mental illness and the structural racism baked into policing that fuel stereotypes of Black men as dangerous. We must, as sociologist Rashawn Ray argues, “replant the roots of rotten trees within law enforcement. To deal with rotten roots, America needs to be honest that law enforcement originated from slave patrols meant to capture my descendants who aimed to flee from enslavement.”
Rebuild mental health infrastructure
In the long-term we must divert funds to rebuild our crumbling mental health care infrastructure so that crises don’t escalate in the first place. Police shouldn’t serve as our first-line responders to mental health crises, but this is the broken system we have until we implement expansive medically-informed, non-police systems of mental health response, such as the groundbreaking CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, which dispatches teams of medics and mental health workers to provide 24/7 mobile crisis intervention. At minimum we must ensure every officer receives CIT training and the House should pass a bipartisan Senate bill to designate 9-8-8 as a national suicide and mental health crisis hotline.
I still struggle to understand my sister’s illness. To educate myself, I attended a 12-week class for family members of a relative with a mental illness through the National Alliance on Mental Illness. My classmates, mostly white, middle and upper-middle class parents of adult children, struggled to navigate a frayed mental health system despite their privileges. We learned to ask for CIT-trained officers if we had to call 911. But several cases in which family members informed police of mental health problems have led to tragic outcomes. Most recently, a Utah mother of a 13-year-old with autism and anxiety called police, asking for a crisis intervention team and mentioning her son's upset and lack of weapon. Police still shot her son several times.
Police reform: Why support for criminal justice reform isn't the same as being anti-police
Psychosis symptoms confound the public and family members like me. But I expect officers who wield guns, weapons and the power to take life to have a finer-tuned knowledge of the increased sensory sensitivity that makes lights seem too bright and noises too loud to someone in a psychotic state. They should understand the memory, attention and concentration problems, sleep deprivation and auditory hallucinations that complicate following commands. Before applying force, they must consider the heightened danger of “less lethal” weapons such as Tasers to the roughly 25% of people with a serious mental illness who also have a substance use disorder.
The patients I met during my own hospitalization for depression and suicidal thoughts almost two decades ago remind me that people with a mental illness have a higher risk of experiencing harm than perpetrating crime. One gentle woman claimed to see God during dinner, as I chatted with a soft-spoken young man who had his stomach pumped after overdosing on Tylenol. Another man jogged down the hall with feces-stained pants. People screamed and cried. I was scared but soon learned that most, if not all, of my fellow sufferers posed more danger to themselves than to others. They were sick like me.
As the pandemic continues, mental health crises will likely increase. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed elevated reporting of worsening mental health, substance abuse and suicidal ideation, and urged prioritizing interventions for at-risk groups including young adults, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with preexisting psychiatric conditions. With no end in sight to the harm for people with mental illness at the hands of law enforcement, distrust and wariness about seeking help will also grow.
Attempting to see the world from another’s eyes requires empathy, compassion and imagination. It’s too late for Daniel Prude, but we can and must do better to preserve the lives of people with mental illness. If we can’t make this leap now, with the pandemic making so many newly aware of their delicate mental health, when? It’s time.
Stacy Torres is an assistant professor of sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at University of California, San Francisco.


usatoday--2020-09-15--Firefighters rescue dog trapped in recliner sofa

A nine-month-old puppy in Ramapo , New York , found himself in a sticky situation when he got his head @ @ @ @ @ recently .

Firefighters rescue dog trapped in recliner sofa
A nine-month-old puppy in Ramapo, New York, found himself in a sticky situation when he got his head stuck in a recliner couch recently.
Storyful


usatoday--2020-09-15--Green Party won't be on Wisconsin ballot, state Supreme Court rules, giving potential boost to Biden

MADISON , Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Supreme Court kept the Green Party 's presidential ticket off the ballot Monday , disappointing party members but ensuring more than a million absentee ballots will be sent to voters Thursday as required by state law .
The ruling also bolsters hopes for Democrats , who feared presidential nominee Joe Biden could lose a small share of his votes to the liberal third party .
Republicans had hoped the Green Party would shave just enough votes from Biden 's total to give President Donald Trump a victory this fall in a state he narrowly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broke with his fellow conservatives to form a majority with the court 's liberals that kept Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins off the ballot .
The majority found Hawkins and his running mate , Milwaukee native Angela Walker , waited too long to bring their legal challenge .
'Anxious , fearful , angry ' : At 50 days out to Election Day , many voters are wary of both Trump and Biden '' Even if we would ultimately determine that the petitioners ’ claims are meritorious , given their delay in asserting their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide meaningful relief without completely upsetting the election , '' the majority wrote in its unsigned opinion .
The state Elections Commission split 3-3 last month on whether to put Hawkins and Walker on the ballot .
The Republican members of the commission backed putting Hawkins on the ballot but the Democratic members opposed doing so because Walker had listed two addresses on her campaign paperwork .
The case had significant implications for this fall 's presidential race .
Both Republicans and Democrats believe Hawkins could have siphoned off some of Biden 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump in Wisconsin .
Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by fewer than 23,000 votes in Wisconsin .
That year Green Party nominee Jill Stein received about 31,000 votes in the state .
Walker said she listed two addresses because she moved while the Green Party collected signatures to get on the ballot .
She and Hawkins this month asked the Supreme Court to put them on the ballot , contending the state Elections Commission had n't followed the law .
Poll : Biden leads Trump 47 % to 43 % in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' We were screwed , '' Hawkins said in a statement .
`` Partisan hacks should not be running elections for their own parties . ''
The justices on Thursday issued a 4-3 order telling election officials not to send absentee ballots while they decided whether to take the case .
That order was issued by conservatives who control the court .
The court 's liberals dissented .
But in a second 4-3 decision , the court on Monday vacated its earlier order and determined ballots could be mailed now .
This time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the court 's liberals , Justices Ann Walsh Bradley , Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky .
In dissent were three conservatives , Chief Justice Patience Roggensack and Justices Rebecca Bradley and Annette Ziegler .
( The Bradleys are not related . )
Roggensack called the Elections Commission `` lawless '' for keeping Hawkins and Walker off the ballot .
`` This lawsuit is not about the Green Party sleeping on its rights , '' she wrote in an opinion joined by the other dissenters .
`` It is about the treatment that independent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the Commission , who repeatedly refused to follow the law relative to nomination papers . ''
Election lawsuits : Legal challenges on record pace amid COVID-19 pandemic as results decide who votes and how In a separate dissent , Ziegler wrote that keeping a worthy candidate off the ballot is `` the ultimate voter suppression . ''
The majority `` deprives the Wisconsin people of a voice and strips them of one of the most fundamental tenets of this republic : the right to express one 's will at the ballot box @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decided not to take the case because of looming deadlines .
Clerks are required under state law to mail absentee ballots to those who have requested them by Thursday .
A separate federal law sets a Saturday deadline for mailing absentee ballots to military and overseas voters .
The majority concluded some ballots may have already been sent , and found that confusion would reign if clerks had to send those voters a second ballot with the names of additional candidates .
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Friday identified clerks across the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of absentee mailings .
But none of the clerks reached by the newspaper said they had actually mailed any ballots yet .
Clerks will mail more than a million absentee ballots on Thursday and then send others as they receive requests from voters .
Absentee voting this fall is expected to set a record because of the coronavirus pandemic .
Claire Woodall-Vogg , executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission , expressed relief Monday that she would not have to reprint ballots .
`` I ’ m just glad that they made a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election administrators and voters need , that they didn ’ t delay any further , '' she said .
His lead attorney , Andrew Phillips of von Briesen & Roper , was hired last year by Republicans on the Legislature 's budget committee to help them sort out a long-running dispute with Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul over how to handle court settlements .
Another attorney on the case , Jacob Curtis , has worked for Republican former Gov .
Scott Walker , Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel of Saukville and the conservative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The court issued its ruling as rapper Kanye West also tries to get on Wisconsin 's ballot .
West , who has praised Trump and gotten help from Republicans , was kept off the ballot after the state Elections Commission ruled 5-1 that his team missed a filing deadline by seconds or minutes .
West sued to get on the ballot , but a Brown County judge on Friday ruled he should n't be on Wisconsin 's ballot because of the late filing .
He could appeal , but Monday 's ruling in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have little chance of getting on the ballot at this stage .
Alison Dirr of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report .

Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Green Party won't be on Wisconsin ballot, state Supreme Court rules, giving potential boost to Biden
Show Caption Hide Caption Expanded voting methods stir up 2020 US election American voters are skeptical about efforts to expand, and in some cases prevent the expansion, of early voting and vote-by-mail methods ahead of the 2020 US presidential election. (Sept. 14) AP
MADISON, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Supreme Court kept the Green Party's presidential ticket off the ballot Monday, disappointing party members but ensuring more than a million absentee ballots will be sent to voters Thursday as required by state law.
The ruling also bolsters hopes for Democrats, who feared presidential nominee Joe Biden could lose a small share of his votes to the liberal third party. Republicans had hoped the Green Party would shave just enough votes from Biden's total to give President Donald Trump a victory this fall in a state he narrowly won in 2016.
Justice Brian Hagedorn broke with his fellow conservatives to form a majority with the court's liberals that kept Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins off the ballot.
The majority found Hawkins and his running mate, Milwaukee native Angela Walker, waited too long to bring their legal challenge.
'Anxious, fearful, angry': At 50 days out to Election Day, many voters are wary of both Trump and Biden
"Even if we would ultimately determine that the petitioners’ claims are meritorious, given their delay in asserting their rights, we would be unable to provide meaningful relief without completely upsetting the election," the majority wrote in its unsigned opinion.
The state Elections Commission split 3-3 last month on whether to put Hawkins and Walker on the ballot. The Republican members of the commission backed putting Hawkins on the ballot but the Democratic members opposed doing so because Walker had listed two addresses on her campaign paperwork.
The case had significant implications for this fall's presidential race. Both Republicans and Democrats believe Hawkins could have siphoned off some of Biden's support, hurting his chances of beating Trump in Wisconsin.
Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by fewer than 23,000 votes in Wisconsin. That year Green Party nominee Jill Stein received about 31,000 votes in the state.
Walker said she listed two addresses because she moved while the Green Party collected signatures to get on the ballot. She and Hawkins this month asked the Supreme Court to put them on the ballot, contending the state Elections Commission hadn't followed the law.
Poll: Biden leads Trump 47% to 43% in new Wisconsin survey by Marquette Law School
"We were screwed," Hawkins said in a statement. "Partisan hacks should not be running elections for their own parties."
The justices on Thursday issued a 4-3 order telling election officials not to send absentee ballots while they decided whether to take the case.
Why voter suppression in the US has increased since 2013 Civil rights experts point to long wait times to vote as a sign of growing voter suppression in the U.S. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
That order was issued by conservatives who control the court. The court's liberals dissented.
But in a second 4-3 decision, the court on Monday vacated its earlier order and determined ballots could be mailed now. This time, the majority consisted of Hagedorn and the court's liberals, Justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky.
In dissent were three conservatives, Chief Justice Patience Roggensack and Justices Rebecca Bradley and Annette Ziegler. (The Bradleys are not related.)
Roggensack called the Elections Commission "lawless" for keeping Hawkins and Walker off the ballot.
"This lawsuit is not about the Green Party sleeping on its rights," she wrote in an opinion joined by the other dissenters. "It is about the treatment that independent candidates from a small political party received from the Commission, who repeatedly refused to follow the law relative to nomination papers."
Election lawsuits: Legal challenges on record pace amid COVID-19 pandemic as results decide who votes and how
In a separate dissent, Ziegler wrote that keeping a worthy candidate off the ballot is "the ultimate voter suppression."
The majority "deprives the Wisconsin people of a voice and strips them of one of the most fundamental tenets of this republic: the right to express one's will at the ballot box," Ziegler wrote.
The majority decided not to take the case because of looming deadlines. Clerks are required under state law to mail absentee ballots to those who have requested them by Thursday. A separate federal law sets a Saturday deadline for mailing absentee ballots to military and overseas voters.
The majority concluded some ballots may have already been sent, and found that confusion would reign if clerks had to send those voters a second ballot with the names of additional candidates.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Friday identified clerks across the state who together had prepared hundreds of thousands of absentee mailings. But none of the clerks reached by the newspaper said they had actually mailed any ballots yet.
Clerks will mail more than a million absentee ballots on Thursday and then send others as they receive requests from voters. Absentee voting this fall is expected to set a record because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Claire Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, expressed relief Monday that she would not have to reprint ballots.
"I’m just glad that they made a decision today and recognized the expediency that election administrators and voters need, that they didn’t delay any further," she said.
Hawkins' legal team has links to Republicans.
His lead attorney, Andrew Phillips of von Briesen & Roper, was hired last year by Republicans on the Legislature's budget committee to help them sort out a long-running dispute with Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul over how to handle court settlements.
Another attorney on the case, Jacob Curtis, has worked for Republican former Gov. Scott Walker, Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel of Saukville and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
The court issued its ruling as rapper Kanye West also tries to get on Wisconsin's ballot. West, who has praised Trump and gotten help from Republicans, was kept off the ballot after the state Elections Commission ruled 5-1 that his team missed a filing deadline by seconds or minutes.
West sued to get on the ballot, but a Brown County judge on Friday ruled he shouldn't be on Wisconsin's ballot because of the late filing.
He could appeal, but Monday's ruling in the Green Party case suggests he would have little chance of getting on the ballot at this stage.
Alison Dirr of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Follow Patrick Marley on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.


usatoday--2020-09-18--Heat rally to stun Celtics in Game 2 for 2-0 lead in Eastern Conference finals

LAKE BUENA VISTA , Fla. — The Miami Heat started hot in Game 2 , then turned cold and looked like they might get run out of the gym by the Boston Celtics .
It was similar to Game 1 when Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the Celtics `` were kicking our ( expletive ) . ''
Miami overcame a 17-point deficit , walloped Boston in the third quarter and closed out the fourth for a 106-101 victory on Thursday .
And now the Celtics are in trouble , down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals .
The Heat outscored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when Bam Adebayo took over , scoring 15 of his 21 points , and then rallied from 94-89 deficit in the final four minutes .
Miami guard Goran Dragic ’ s 3-pointer with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter put the Heat ahead 100-95 .
A turnover by Boston ’ s Marcus Smart led to a Jae Crowder layup and a Miami 102-95 lead with 1:26 left .
Dragic finished with 25 points , and Duncan Robinson added 18 , all on 3-pointers .
Adebayo also had 10 rebounds and four assists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four rebounds , three assists and four steals .
Miami started the game making five of its first six 3-pointers but then made two its next 15 as the Celtics took control with 60-43 lead .
But at halftime , the Heat refocused their offense and went to Adebayo on pick-and-rolls and lobs at the rim , and the Celtics missed a chance to even the series .
Turnovers were a problem for the Celtics — 19 of them led to 26 Heat points .
Kemba Walker emerged from his scoring slump with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tatum each scored 21 .

Heat rally to stun Celtics in Game 2 for 2-0 lead in Eastern Conference finals
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Miami Heat started hot in Game 2, then turned cold and looked like they might get run out of the gym by the Boston Celtics.
It was similar to Game 1 when Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the Celtics "were kicking our (expletive)."
Miami overcame a 17-point deficit, walloped Boston in the third quarter and closed out the fourth for a 106-101 victory on Thursday. And now the Celtics are in trouble, down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Heat outscored the Celtics 37-17 in the third quarter when Bam Adebayo took over, scoring 15 of his 21 points, and then rallied from 94-89 deficit in the final four minutes.
Jimmy Butler talks about the @MiamiHEAT's mentality late in games after another big comeback has them up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals. pic.twitter.com/wbUktNfRoY — NBA (@NBA) September 18, 2020
Miami guard Goran Dragic’s 3-pointer with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter put the Heat ahead 100-95. A turnover by Boston’s Marcus Smart led to a Jae Crowder layup and a Miami 102-95 lead with 1:26 left.
"We pulled apart and we didn't play well," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "They did a good job. We're not beating this team if we're not completely connected on both ends of the court. Got to get back to being that, which we've been at times. Right now, they're a better team. We're going to have to fight to get back into this series."
Dragic finished with 25 points, and Duncan Robinson added 18, all on 3-pointers. Adebayo also had 10 rebounds and four assists, and Jimmy Butler had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Miami started the game making five of its first six 3-pointers but then made two its next 15 as the Celtics took control with 60-43 lead.
"Yeah, we were all disappointed," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But again, like you get to the Conference finals, it's not all about you. Boston had a lot to say about how that first half was going. I'd love to say it was just us or going through the motions or anything. It was them putting us on our heels, and then we started to attack the game a little bit more in the second half and get control of it."
At halftime, the Heat refocused their offense and went to Adebayo on pick-and-rolls and lobs at the rim, and the Celtics missed a chance to even the series.
🔥 @Bam1of1 (15 PTS in 3Q) and @Goran_Dragic (9 in 4Q) combine for 33 second-half points to lead the @MiamiHEAT to a 2-0 ECF lead! #NBAPlayoffs
Game 3 ⏩ Saturday, 8:30 PM ET, ESPN pic.twitter.com/26tHj3SOgR — NBA (@NBA) September 18, 2020
"Bam was really assertive in the pick-and-roll and that kind of loosened up some things for us, but games are long and you just have to figure out different ways to impact winning and Bam, he understands that," Spoelstra said.
Turnovers were also a problem for the Celtics — 19 of them led to 26 Heat points.
Kemba Walker emerged from his scoring slump with 23 points and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 21.
The Celtics were frustrated after the loss, and emotions spilled out. Tatum said what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room.
Celtics' Jayson Tatum on the emotional locker room: "We're frustrated. But that's team sports. You're not supposed to be happy being down 0-2." Tatum added "it's not anything out of the ordinary" and guys were just talking about the game. — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) September 18, 2020
"Two times now we've had a couple double-digit leads and we let go of the ropes," he said. "We got to figure out why that keeps happening. Just have to be prepared to win the next one. Not looking at we got to win four out of five, however many we got left. Just win the next one. Take it one game at a time."
Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.


usatoday--2020-09-18--Department of Education launches investigation into Princeton University over 'admitted racism'

The Department of Education , in a letter Wednesday to the president of Princeton University , announced it was investigating the school for lapses in its nondiscriminatory practices .
Princeton must make available all requested records and certain Princeton personnel for interviews , according to the letter , which was attached in Princeton 's response to the request .
The investigation comes after President Christopher L. Eisgruber sent a letter to the school 's population about its ongoing efforts to combat systemic racism Sept. 2 .
`` Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by conscious intention but more often through unexamined assumptions and stereotypes , ignorance or insensitivity , and the systemic legacy of past decisions and policies , '' Eisgruber wrote .
The Department of Education 's letter cites this phrase as evidence of Princeton 's `` admitted racism , '' and is concerned that the school 's assurances of nondiscrimination `` may have been false '' and that the school violated the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 .
Feds say Yalediscriminates against Asian , white students in admissions Princeton denies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the letter that it will respond to the letter `` in due course . ''
Princeton 's statement also called the DOE 's allegations `` unfortunate . ''
The statement added that `` the Department appears to believe that grappling honestly with the nation ’ s history and the current effects of systemic racism runs afoul of existing law . ''
The investigation comes on the heels of a Justice Department investigation into Yale University , which found last month that the Ivy League school is illegally discriminating against Asian American and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civil rights law .
It also follows President Donald Trump 's accusations of `` the liberal indoctrination of America 's youth '' at nation 's colleges , as well as calls that the 1619 Project by The New York Times is `` toxic propaganda . ''
He said he would respond by creating a commission to work to promote what Trump called `` patriotic education . ''

Department of Education launches investigation into Princeton University over 'admitted racism'
The Department of Education, in a letter Wednesday to the president of Princeton University, announced it was investigating the school for lapses in its nondiscriminatory practices.
Princeton must make available all requested records and certain Princeton personnel for interviews, according to the letter, which was attached in Princeton's response to the request.
The investigation comes after President Christopher L. Eisgruber sent a letter to the school's population about its ongoing efforts to combat systemic racism Sept. 2.
"Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at Princeton as in our society, sometimes by conscious intention but more often through unexamined assumptions and stereotypes, ignorance or insensitivity, and the systemic legacy of past decisions and policies," Eisgruber wrote.
The Department of Education's letter cites this phrase as evidence of Princeton's "admitted racism," and is concerned that the school's assurances of nondiscrimination "may have been false" and that the school violated the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Feds say Yale discriminates against Asian, white students in admissions
Princeton denies the allegations, writing in the response to the letter that it will respond to the letter "in due course."
Princeton's statement also called the DOE's allegations "unfortunate."
The statement added that "the Department appears to believe that grappling honestly with the nation’s history and the current effects of systemic racism runs afoul of existing law."
The investigation comes on the heels of a Justice Department investigation into Yale University, which found last month that the Ivy League school is illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law.
It also follows President Donald Trump's accusations of "the liberal indoctrination of America's youth" at nation's colleges, as well as calls that the 1619 Project by The New York Times is "toxic propaganda."
He said he would respond by creating a commission to work to promote what Trump called "patriotic education."


usatoday--2020-09-17--Los Angeles sheriffs: Black man was shot to death by deputies after he grabbed a pistol

LOS ANGELES — Sheriff 's deputies fatally shot a Black man who they were trying to stop for riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street after they saw him drop a pistol and then pick it up , investigators said Thursday .
The deputies fired 19 shots at Dijon Kizzee , striking him several times in the chest and at least once in the back , in a case that brought multiple contentious protests by Black Lives Matter activists in south Los Angeles .
The Aug. 31 shooting has attracted nationwide attention against the backdrop of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other cases of African Americans killed by police around the country .
It also follows the attempted assassination of two deputies nearby in Compton as they sat in their patrol car , though the motive for that shooting has not been determined as a manhunt for the gunman continues .
In releasing new details about the Kizzee shooting at a news conference , Sheriff Alex Villanueva painted a picture of the unincorporated area south of Los Angeles ' downtown where it occurred , Westmont , as one of the roughest in the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ special attention by deputies .
More : Grainy video shows Dijon Kizzee running from Los Angeles deputies .
He was killed 'in cold blood , ' attorney Ben Crump says The area of about one square mile has seen 12 homicides through September and 115 arrests of armed people , the majority of them gang members .
The Los Angeles Times , Villanueva said , has dubbed it `` Death Valley . ''
Residents there are trying to survive in a `` war zone , '' Villanueva said .
`` We are trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
So when deputies saw Kizzee riding his bicycle on the wrong side of a street , they flipped a U-turn in their cruiser and tried to confront him over the traffic violation , said Sheriff 's Capt .
Kent Wegener , head of the homicide bureau .
More : LA deputies shot in ambush are recovering as search continues for gunman Though the deputies did n't know it , Kizzee had previous felony convictions involving guns and narcotics and a restraining order against him .
As such , he was n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he saw the deputies coming for him , according to the deputies ' account , he abandoned the bike and tried to get away on foot .
The deputies pursued and caught up to Kizzee a short distance away on 109th Place .
There , he tussled with a deputy as he held a towel in one hand and jacket in the other .
A gun tumbled to the ground , attracting the attention of the deputies , Wegener said .
When Kizzee reached down and picked it up , they opened fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scene .
More : Police officer charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting of Black man at California Walmart The shooting was being analyzed from several videos , two of which were shown at the press conference .
`` He wanted to get away from deputies .
He armed himself with a handgun and this resulted , '' Wegener said .
Kizzee 's 9mm semiautomatic pistol was loaded with 15 rounds and had been stolen in a Las Vegas residential burglary , he said .
Seeking to dispel any notion that the gun had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigators had uncovered a video taken several days before the shooting in which Kizzee is seen brandishing it with its serial numbers visible .
Results of an autopsy are pending .
No charges have been brought against the deputies .

Los Angeles sheriffs: Black man was shot to death by deputies after he grabbed a pistol
Show Caption Hide Caption Two Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies ambushed by a single gunman Two Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies shot multiple times by an unknown shooter, 'critically injuring' them both. USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — Sheriff's deputies fatally shot a Black man who they were trying to stop for riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street after they saw him drop a pistol and then pick it up, investigators said Thursday.
The deputies fired 19 shots at Dijon Kizzee, striking him several times in the chest and at least once in the back, in a case that brought multiple contentious protests by Black Lives Matter activists in south Los Angeles.
The Aug. 31 shooting has attracted nationwide attention against the backdrop of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other cases of African Americans killed by police around the country. It also follows the attempted assassination of two deputies nearby in Compton as they sat in their patrol car, though the motive for that shooting has not been determined as a manhunt for the gunman continues.
In releasing new details about the Kizzee shooting at a news conference, Sheriff Alex Villanueva painted a picture of the unincorporated area south of Los Angeles' downtown where it occurred, Westmont, as one of the roughest in the city. The sheriff indicated the area merited special attention by deputies.
More: Grainy video shows Dijon Kizzee running from Los Angeles deputies. He was killed 'in cold blood,' attorney Ben Crump says
The area of about one square mile has seen 12 homicides through September and 115 arrests of armed people, the majority of them gang members. The Los Angeles Times, Villanueva said, has dubbed it "Death Valley."
Residents there are trying to survive in a "war zone," Villanueva said. "We are trying to save lives, plain and simple."
So when deputies saw Kizzee riding his bicycle on the wrong side of a street, they flipped a U-turn in their cruiser and tried to confront him over the traffic violation, said Sheriff's Capt. Kent Wegener, head of the homicide bureau.
More: LA deputies shot in ambush are recovering as search continues for gunman
Though the deputies didn't know it, Kizzee had previous felony convictions involving guns and narcotics and a restraining order against him. As such, he wasn't allowed to possess a gun. When he saw the deputies coming for him, according to the deputies' account, he abandoned the bike and tried to get away on foot.
The deputies pursued and caught up to Kizzee a short distance away on 109th Place.
There, he tussled with a deputy as he held a towel in one hand and jacket in the other. A gun tumbled to the ground, attracting the attention of the deputies, Wegener said. When Kizzee reached down and picked it up, they opened fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
More: Police officer charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting of Black man at California Walmart
The shooting was being analyzed from several videos, two of which were shown at the press conference.
"He wanted to get away from deputies. He armed himself with a handgun and this resulted," Wegener said.
Kizzee's 9mm semiautomatic pistol was loaded with 15 rounds and had been stolen in a Las Vegas residential burglary, he said. Seeking to dispel any notion that the gun had been planted by deputies, Wegener said investigators had uncovered a video taken several days before the shooting in which Kizzee is seen brandishing it with its serial numbers visible.
Results of an autopsy are pending. No charges have been brought against the deputies.


usatoday--2020-09-17--Jerry Harris from 'Cheer' charged with producing child porn. He admitted receiving explicit photos f

Celebrity cheerleader Jerry Harris has been arrested by the FBI and charged with producing child pornography , the U.S. attorney 's office said Thursday .
According to federal court records , Harris admitted to agents that he solicited and received explicit messages on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 individuals he knew were minors , had sex with a 15-year-old at a cheerleading competition in 2019 and paid a 17-year-old money in exchange for nude photos .
Harris , who experienced a meteoric rise to fame this year when he was featured in Netflix ’ s “ Cheer ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FBI for soliciting photos and sex from minors .
USA TODAY reported Monday that the initial criminal investigation was based on allegations brought by 14-year-old twin brothers .
In interviews with USA TODAY , the boys described a pattern of harassment , both online and at cheer competitions , that started when they were 13 and Harris was 19 .
They said it continued for more than a year .
On Monday the FBI executed a search warrant at Harris ' Naperville , Illinois , home .
Since then , agents have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harris , court records show .
Read More : Jerry Harris from ‘ Cheer ’ under FBI investigation for allegedly soliciting sex from minors Harris , 21 , could not immediately be reached for comment .
His arrest was first reported by the Chicago Tribune .
Harris appeared Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman .
USA TODAY listened to the hearing via telephone and other than the judge , the speakers were mostly inaudible .
The judge advised Harris of his rights , including the right to remain silent and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judge asked Harris some basic questions about how far he had gone in school , whether he was under a doctor ’ s care or on drugs , and whether he understood what was happening .
Harris ’ answers were mostly inaudible , though when asked if he was taking drugs he clearly said , “ No.
” Harris is represented by defense attorney Todd S. Pugh .
Efforts to reach Pugh were not immediately successful .
Prosecutor Christopher Parente described Harris as a danger to the community and asked the judge to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Harris will remain detained until a hearing at 10:30 a.m. on Monday , at which time the court would determine if Harris could be released on bond or under some other condition .
Parente explained in an interview that the government asked to detain Harris because he 's been charged with `` a crime of violence and there ’ s a presumption of detention as a danger to the community.
” Kristen , the mother of 14-year-old brothers Charlie and Sam , told USA TODAY she filed reports with Fort Worth , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FBI on Aug. 8 .
USA TODAY agreed to withhold the family ’ s last name because the boys are minors and alleging abuse .
The family provided USA TODAY with screenshots from five text and social media conversations between the boys and accounts they say belong to Harris .
Several of the screenshots include messages explicitly requesting nude photos or sex .
In one conversation on Snapchat , an account with the name “ .jerry harris ” responded to a photo of Charlie stretching his leg above his head .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and show me , ” Harris replied privately , according to a screenshot provided to USA TODAY .
Harris is also accused of asking one of the brothers to have sex with him in 2019 at two cheerleading competitions .
Charlie said he declined both times .
Varsity , which runs those competitions , on Aug. 1 also reported the allegations to police in Florida and Texas , according to letters obtained by USA TODAY .
In the letters , Varsity ’ s Chief Legal Officer Burton Brillhart said the company had learned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Harris and had banned him “ from having any affiliation with Varsity Brands or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates , now and in the future.
” Kristen and the boys on Monday filed a lawsuit against Harris , Varsity , the U.S. All Star Federation and the Cheer Athletics gym at which Harris has cheered .
In it , the family accuses Harris of sexual misconduct and the cheer organizations of negligence and failures to protect the boys from abuse .
The lawsuit also claims Harris sexually exploited others in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the U.S. Attorney and the FBI have taken swift action to protect children by investigating , arresting and charging Jerry Harris , '' attorney Sarah Klein , who represents the family , said in a statement .
`` This was made possible because our clients ’ mother had the courage to report Harris to the FBI as well as the Fort Worth Police Department and provided evidentiary proof of the manipulation , sexual harassment , abuse , and exploitation that her sons had suffered . ''
Harris , who grew up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a child , gained national prominence in January through “ Cheer , ” the docuseries that follows Texas ’ Navarro College cheerleaders in their quest for a national title .
Viewers were drawn to his lively personality and ability to remain positive despite personal challenges , including the loss of his mother to cancer .
In the months that followed , Harris met Oprah Winfrey , interviewed celebrities on the red carpet of the Oscars and filmed a short video with former Vice President Joe Biden .
Harris ’ Instagram page has 1.2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison .
The U.S. attorney 's office encouraged others who may be `` a victim of sexual exploitation by Jeremiah Harris '' to contact the FBI at ( 312 ) 421-6700 .
Tricia L. Nadolny and Marisa Kwiatkowski are reporters on USA TODAY ’ s national investigative team .
Tricia can be reached tnadolny @ usatoday.com or @ TriciaNadolny .
Marisa can be reached at mkwiatko @ usatoday.com , @ IndyMarisaK or by phone , Signal or WhatsApp at ( 317 ) 207-2855 .

Tricia L. Nadolny, Marisa Kwiatkowski and Daniel Connolly, USA TODAY

Jerry Harris from 'Cheer' charged with producing child porn. He admitted receiving explicit photos from minors, court records show
Show Caption Hide Caption Jerry Harris of 'Cheer' sentenced for sex crimes, survivors share story The FBI arrested Jerry Harris after investigating reports made to police by two 14-year-old boys who claim Netflix "Cheer" star solicited explicit photos and sex. Sandy Hooper and Alexis Arnold, USA TODAY
Celebrity cheerleader Jerry Harris has been arrested by the FBI and charged with producing child pornography, the U.S. attorney's office said Thursday. According to federal court records, Harris admitted to agents that he solicited and received explicit messages on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 individuals he knew were minors, had sex with a 15-year-old at a cheerleading competition in 2019 and paid a 17-year-old money in exchange for nude photos.
Harris, who experienced a meteoric rise to fame this year when he was featured in Netflix’s “Cheer” docuseries, has been under investigation by the FBI for soliciting photos and sex from minors.
USA TODAY reported Monday that the initial criminal investigation was based on allegations brought by 14-year-old twin brothers. In interviews with USA TODAY, the boys described a pattern of harassment, both online and at cheer competitions, that started when they were 13 and Harris was 19. They said it continued for more than a year. On Monday the FBI executed a search warrant at Harris' Naperville, Illinois, home. Since then, agents have interviewed other minors about their interactions with Harris, court records show.
Read More: Jerry Harris from ‘Cheer’ under FBI investigation for allegedly soliciting sex from minors
Harris, 21, could not immediately be reached for comment. His arrest was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Harris appeared Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman. USA TODAY listened to the hearing via telephone and other than the judge, the speakers were mostly inaudible.
The judge advised Harris of his rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. The judge asked Harris some basic questions about how far he had gone in school, whether he was under a doctor’s care or on drugs, and whether he understood what was happening. Harris’ answers were mostly inaudible, though when asked if he was taking drugs he clearly said, “No.”
Harris did not enter a plea.
Harris is represented by defense attorney Todd S. Pugh. Efforts to reach Pugh were not immediately successful.
Prosecutor Christopher Parente described Harris as a danger to the community and asked the judge to keep him in detention. The judge said Harris will remain detained until a hearing at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, at which time the court would determine if Harris could be released on bond or under some other condition.
Parente explained in an interview that the government asked to detain Harris because he's been charged with "a crime of violence and there’s a presumption of detention as a danger to the community.”
Kristen, the mother of 14-year-old brothers Charlie and Sam, told USA TODAY she filed reports with Fort Worth, Texas, police on July 10 and the FBI on Aug. 8. USA TODAY agreed to withhold the family’s last name because the boys are minors and alleging abuse.
The family provided USA TODAY with screenshots from five text and social media conversations between the boys and accounts they say belong to Harris. Several of the screenshots include messages explicitly requesting nude photos or sex. In one conversation on Snapchat, an account with the name “.jerry harris” responded to a photo of Charlie stretching his leg above his head.
“Do it naked and take a video and show me,” Harris replied privately, according to a screenshot provided to USA TODAY.
Harris is also accused of asking one of the brothers to have sex with him in 2019 at two cheerleading competitions. Charlie said he declined both times.
Varsity, which runs those competitions, on Aug. 1 also reported the allegations to police in Florida and Texas, according to letters obtained by USA TODAY. In the letters, Varsity’s Chief Legal Officer Burton Brillhart said the company had learned of “inappropriate sexual conduct” allegations against Harris and had banned him “from having any affiliation with Varsity Brands or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, now and in the future.”
Kristen and the boys on Monday filed a lawsuit against Harris, Varsity, the U.S. All Star Federation and the Cheer Athletics gym at which Harris has cheered. In it, the family accuses Harris of sexual misconduct and the cheer organizations of negligence and failures to protect the boys from abuse. The lawsuit also claims Harris sexually exploited others in the cheer community.
"We are grateful that the U.S. Attorney and the FBI have taken swift action to protect children by investigating, arresting and charging Jerry Harris," attorney Sarah Klein, who represents the family, said in a statement. "This was made possible because our clients’ mother had the courage to report Harris to the FBI as well as the Fort Worth Police Department and provided evidentiary proof of the manipulation, sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation that her sons had suffered."
Harris, who grew up in Illinois and has cheered since he was a child, gained national prominence in January through “Cheer,” the docuseries that follows Texas’ Navarro College cheerleaders in their quest for a national title. Viewers were drawn to his lively personality and ability to remain positive despite personal challenges, including the loss of his mother to cancer.
In the months that followed, Harris met Oprah Winfrey, interviewed celebrities on the red carpet of the Oscars and filmed a short video with former Vice President Joe Biden. Harris’ Instagram page has 1.2 million followers.
If convicted, Harris faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison. The U.S. attorney's office encouraged others who may be "a victim of sexual exploitation by Jeremiah Harris" to contact the FBI at (312) 421-6700.
Tricia L. Nadolny and Marisa Kwiatkowski are reporters on USA TODAY’s national investigative team. Tricia can be reached tnadolny@usatoday.com or @TriciaNadolny. Marisa can be reached at mkwiatko@usatoday.com, @IndyMarisaK or by phone, Signal or WhatsApp at (317) 207-2855.


usatoday--2020-09-17--University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student apologizes for falsely claiming to be Black

MILWAUKEE – A doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison issued a public apology this week after accusations emerged online that they were presenting as Black person despite being mostly of Italian ancestry .
CV Vitolo-Haddad — who uses they/them pronouns — wrote in a Medium post Sunday that they resigned from a teaching position and stepped down as co-president of UW-Madison 's chapter of the Teaching Assistants ’ Association graduate workers ' union .
Vitolo-Haddad was also at one point director of the school 's speech and debate team .
`` I am Southern Italian/Sicilian .
In trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I grossly misstepped and placed myself in positions to be trusted on false premises , '' Vitolo-Haddad wrote .
`` I went along with however people saw me .
I over-identified with unreliable and unproven family history and latched onto anything I remembered growing up . ''
The situation came to light in a Medium post by an anonymous `` affiliate of the university '' who accused Vitolo-Haddad of `` race-shifting and copious lying . ''
The post came one day after Jessica Krug — a white associate professor of history at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctorate at UW-Madison — made national headlines after writing a blog post saying she had been pretending to be Black for years .
Jessica Krug : Professor who pretended to be Black resigns from George Washington University '' For years , I have doubted my intuition , questioned whether anyone would believe me , and rationalized that CV might , despite all of the inconsistencies in their story , somehow be telling the truth , '' the author of the post exposing Vitolo-Haddad wrote .
`` Race , after all , is slippery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is immediately visible , a fact I now believe CV has taken advantage of as they slide themselves further into spaces of Black identity and political organizing that do not belong to them . ''
UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone confirmed that Vitolo-Haddad , a student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication , is not currently a teaching assistant at the university .
`` UW-Madison expects that people represent themselves authentically and accurately in all aspects of their academic work , '' McGlone said .
The graduate workers ' union issued a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no uncertain terms . ''
`` The TAA enabled this harm by electing them to a position of power in our union : we have unknowingly rewarded the toxic opportunism of performing Blackness , '' the statement reads .
`` We intend to immediately begin the work of repairing this harm . ''
The union will host a town hall on race Monday to allow members to discuss the revelation and to determine how the group can move forward .

Devi Shastri, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student apologizes for falsely claiming to be Black
MILWAUKEE – A doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison issued a public apology this week after accusations emerged online that they were presenting as Black person despite being mostly of Italian ancestry.
CV Vitolo-Haddad — who uses they/them pronouns — wrote in a Medium post Sunday that they resigned from a teaching position and stepped down as co-president of UW-Madison's chapter of the Teaching Assistants’ Association graduate workers' union. Vitolo-Haddad was also at one point director of the school's speech and debate team.
"I am Southern Italian/Sicilian. In trying to make sense of my experiences with race, I grossly misstepped and placed myself in positions to be trusted on false premises," Vitolo-Haddad wrote. "I went along with however people saw me. I over-identified with unreliable and unproven family history and latched onto anything I remembered growing up."
Vitolo-Haddad declined a Journal Sentinel interview request.
The situation came to light in a Medium post by an anonymous "affiliate of the university" who accused Vitolo-Haddad of "race-shifting and copious lying."
The post came one day after Jessica Krug — a white associate professor of history at George Washington University who also earned her doctorate at UW-Madison — made national headlines after writing a blog post saying she had been pretending to be Black for years.
Jessica Krug: Professor who pretended to be Black resigns from George Washington University
"For years, I have doubted my intuition, questioned whether anyone would believe me, and rationalized that CV might, despite all of the inconsistencies in their story, somehow be telling the truth," the author of the post exposing Vitolo-Haddad wrote.
"Race, after all, is slippery and racialization is not just about what is immediately visible, a fact I now believe CV has taken advantage of as they slide themselves further into spaces of Black identity and political organizing that do not belong to them."
UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone confirmed that Vitolo-Haddad, a student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is not currently a teaching assistant at the university.
"UW-Madison expects that people represent themselves authentically and accurately in all aspects of their academic work," McGlone said.
The graduate workers' union issued a statement condemning the cultural appropriation "in no uncertain terms."
"The TAA enabled this harm by electing them to a position of power in our union: we have unknowingly rewarded the toxic opportunism of performing Blackness," the statement reads. "We intend to immediately begin the work of repairing this harm."
The union will host a town hall on race Monday to allow members to discuss the revelation and to determine how the group can move forward.
Follow Devi Shastri on Twitter at @DeviShastri.


usatoday--2020-09-18--Tiger Woods' ex-wife Elin Nordegren buys house for $9.9M after selling estate for $28.6M in Palm Bea

Elin Nordegren , the ex-wife of golf legend Tiger Woods , has downsized in Palm Beach County after selling her custom beachfront mansion last week for a recorded $ 28.6 million .
Nordegren paid a recorded $ 9.9 million for a six-bedroom house on 2 acres in the Old Palm Golf Club development in Palm Beach Gardens , a deed recorded this week shows .
Built in 2010 , the house she bought has 16,841 square feet of living space , inside and out , property records show .
Of that total , 13,504 square feet is under air conditioning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parcel next door .
She bought the house at 12251 Tillinghast Circle as trustee of the Northern Lights Trust , the same entity through which she owned and sold her beachfront house in Seminole Landing .
The renovated property in Old Palm Golf Club faces a pond on the gated community ’ s golf course .
The house 's layout includes a dining room , home office , gym and a club/media room , according to the property 's sales listing .
Other features include a well-equipped kitchen and a glass-enclosed refrigerated wine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bottles .
The deed recorded Tuesday shows the property was sold by Tillinghast Holdings LLC , a Florida limited liability company .
That entity is managed by Larry Ross and as a Palm Beach address on Royal Palm Way , state business records show .
Brokers at Leibowitz Realty Group handled the seller 's side of the deal .
Michael Leibowitz co-listed the property with Andrew Leibowitz , according to the multiple listing service .
The estate was priced at $ 12.495 million when it sold .
Agent Dory Faxon of Frankel Ball @ @ @ @ @ @ @ OPEN : Tiger Woods falls apart late to start U.S. Open in NY Via a deed recorded Sept 11 , Nordegren sold her Seminole Landing house to billionaire Rockstar Energy Drink creator Russell Weiner of Delray Beach , who bought it using a revocable trust in his name , courthouse records show .
The Seminole Landing house has 11 bedrooms and about 26,000 square feet .
Completed in 2014 , it stands on a 1.4-acre lot with 200 feet of shoreline in an unincorporated area near North Palm Beach .
Nordegren listed her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 49.5 million , a price later dropped to $ 44.5 million .
Agents Cris Condon , Todd Peter and Frances Peter of Sotheby ’ s International Realty in Palm Beach had the listing , and Todd Peter handled the buyer ’ s side in the sale last week .
Woods and Nordegren married in 2004 and had two children .
Their contentious divorce was finalized in 2010 , with Nordegren receiving a settlement reported at $ 100 million .

Tiger Woods' ex-wife Elin Nordegren buys house for $9.9M after selling estate for $28.6M in Palm Beach County
Elin Nordegren, the ex-wife of golf legend Tiger Woods, has downsized in Palm Beach County after selling her custom beachfront mansion last week for a recorded $28.6 million.
Nordegren paid a recorded $9.9 million for a six-bedroom house on 2 acres in the Old Palm Golf Club development in Palm Beach Gardens, a deed recorded this week shows.
Built in 2010, the house she bought has 16,841 square feet of living space, inside and out, property records show. Of that total, 13,504 square feet is under air conditioning. The property includes a large vacant parcel next door.
She bought the house at 12251 Tillinghast Circle as trustee of the Northern Lights Trust, the same entity through which she owned and sold her beachfront house in Seminole Landing.
The renovated property in Old Palm Golf Club faces a pond on the gated community’s golf course. The house's layout includes a dining room, home office, gym and a club/media room, according to the property's sales listing. Other features include a well-equipped kitchen and a glass-enclosed refrigerated wine room that can store more than 500 bottles.
The deed recorded Tuesday shows the property was sold by Tillinghast Holdings LLC, a Florida limited liability company. That entity is managed by Larry Ross and as a Palm Beach address on Royal Palm Way, state business records show.
Brokers at Leibowitz Realty Group handled the seller's side of the deal. Michael Leibowitz co-listed the property with Andrew Leibowitz, according to the multiple listing service. The estate was priced at $12.495 million when it sold.
Agent Dory Faxon of Frankel Ball Realty acted for the buyer.
U.S. OPEN: Tiger Woods falls apart late to start U.S. Open in NY
Via a deed recorded Sept 11, Nordegren sold her Seminole Landing house to billionaire Rockstar Energy Drink creator Russell Weiner of Delray Beach, who bought it using a revocable trust in his name, courthouse records show.
The Seminole Landing house has 11 bedrooms and about 26,000 square feet. Completed in 2014, it stands on a 1.4-acre lot with 200 feet of shoreline in an unincorporated area near North Palm Beach.
Nordegren listed her estate for sale in March 2018 at $49.5 million, a price later dropped to $44.5 million. Agents Cris Condon, Todd Peter and Frances Peter of Sotheby’s International Realty in Palm Beach had the listing, and Todd Peter handled the buyer’s side in the sale last week.
Woods and Nordegren married in 2004 and had two children. Their contentious divorce was finalized in 2010, with Nordegren receiving a settlement reported at $100 million.
Follow the Palm Beach Daily News' Darrell Hofheinz on Twitter @PBDN_hofheinz.


usatoday--2020-09-17--Coronavirus updates: Global cases surpass 30M; Moderna targets November for candidate vaccine; 790K

As the race to find a coronavirus vaccine continues , the World Health Organization on Thursday announced grim reminders of COVID-19 's global impact .
The WHO said cases are surging again in Europe , with more than half of European countries seeing a 10 % or greater spike in cases .
COVID-19 is also disproportionately affecting healthcare workers , according to WHO data .
Health workers make up 2-3 % of the global population but account for about 14 % of reported COVID-19 cases .
`` Thousands of health workers infected with COVID-19 have lost their lives worldwide , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progress towards a vaccine continued Thursday : Moderna said it was moving up its trial results timeline .
The company said it could have enough clinical trial results for its candidate vaccine as soon as November .
That news followed cautions from Robert Redfield , director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , on Wednesday .
Redfield urged the use of face masks to slow the spread of COVID-19 and warned a vaccine may not be available to the public until next year .
• New York City pushed back its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to elementary , middle and high school classrooms — again .
• Attorney General William Barr drew criticism after calling lockdown measures aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19 the worst infringement on civil liberties other than slavery .
• More than 790,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week , the Labor Department said , as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount .
• Six states set records for new cases in a week while four states had a record number of deaths in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Wednesday .
• The Big Ten announced its plan to return on Oct. 24 , reversing its August decision to postpone its fall football season .
The NCAA said the men 's and women 's college basketball season can start on Nov. 25 .
📈 Today 's numbers : The U.S. has reported more than 6.6 million cases and 197,000 deaths , according to Johns Hopkins University data .
Globally , there have been more than 29.9 million cases and 942,000 fatalities .
📰 What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received widespread scrutiny for yielding to political pressure from the White House .
These interviews and records provide the most extensive look yet at how the CDC , paralyzed by bureaucracy , failed to consistently perform its most basic job : giving public health authorities the guidance needed to save American lives during a pandemic .
🗺 Mapping coronavirus : Track the U.S. outbreak , state by state This file will be updated throughout the day .
For updates in your inbox , subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter .
Moderna says vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , one of the companies leading the effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine , announced Thursday it could have enough clinical trial results as soon as November to confirm the effectiveness of its candidate vaccine .
Results of the vaccine ’ s effectiveness will be presented to an independent review committee after 53 people in the trial contract COVID-19 , and again after 106 and 151 infections .
Half the participants are getting a placebo and half the active vaccine , called mRNA-1273 .
Statistically , if the vaccine is effective 75 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only 106 infections in both groups to prove its effectiveness , Dr. Jacqueline Miller , Moderna ’ s senior vice president of infectious disease development , told company investors on Thursday .
At that point , which will likely come in November , Moderna could apply for an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin distributing the vaccine .
The FDA has said a vaccine must be at least 50 % effective to win federal approval , but the companies developing vaccines have said they are aiming for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher effectiveness .
Moderna had originally predicted that it might take until May 2021 to prove its vaccine ’ s effectiveness , but pushed up that timeline because participants joined quickly , the COVID-19 infection rate remained high around trial sites and the company was able to start the trial earlier than originally expected .
Flu circulation plunges to historic lows in the US , CDC says The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says flu circulation in the U.S. “ is currently at historical lows , ” sharply dropping after widespread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and mask wearing to curb COVID-19 spread , according to the agency ’ s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Thursday .
According to the report , clinical laboratories reported a 98 % decrease in influenza activity between Sept. 2019 to Feb. 2020 and March to May 2020 .
Other northern hemisphere countries also experienced a sharp decline in influenza circulation , and southern hemisphere countries with temperate climates have had virtually no circulation at all .
The CDC says declines in activity could also be attributed to decreased testing as more people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or it could have marked a natural end to the influenza season .
While the agency expects mitigation efforts to keep influenza activity low , the CDC says it ’ s important to plan for seasonal influenza this fall and winter by vaccinating everyone above the age of six months .
8 Chicago school workers have died of COVID since start of pandemic At least eight employees of the nation ’ s third-largest school district have died and another 250 have had COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic , with about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in school operations , Chicago Public Schools said this week .
Most of the cases involved employees who were exposed to community spread or sick family members , the district said .
Nearly 13 % of the cases are believed to have been part of a cluster discovered at a school , most of which occurred in the spring , the district said .
“ While workplace transmission is unlikely to have occurred in the vast majority of cases known to the district , we know the virus is still causing harm to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and our thoughts remain with all members of the CPS community who have been impacted by this virus , ” the district said in a statement .
Chicago Public Schools had initially planned to try out a hybrid model this fall but opted for a fully online approach before the start of school .
USA TODAY 's vaccine panel : We 're just over halfway there but need more data If midnight is the start of the pandemic in the U.S. and noon is the time a vaccine is freely available for anyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is at about 7 a.m , says USA TODAY 's panel of experts in medicine , virology , immunology , logistics and supply chain issues who are estimating how close we are to securing a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19 .
That 's an hour closer to noon than last month but still just over halfway to the goal .
With three experimental coronavirus vaccines now in large , human clinical trials in the U.S. and a government expectation at least one could be approved by January , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data , data ” — we need more data .
While efforts to create candidate vaccines have been heroic and followed eagerly by the public , in many ways that 's been the easy part , said Prakash Nagarkatti , an immunologist and vice president for research at the University of South Carolina .
“ Vaccine technology is not complicated — any research-intensive university has the technology to develop the vaccine , ” he said .
The challenge is to get through the clinical trials gauntlet with a product proven to be safe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first day of in-person classes – again New York City has pushed back the first day of in-person classes for most of its elementary , middle and high school students , the second delay in a rocky return to the classroom for the nation 's largest school district .
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that most students would continue online-only learning and transition to its planned hybrid model on Sept. 29 for elementary school students and on Oct. 1 for middle and high school students .
Pre-K and some students with special @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the target return date , which had already been pushed back once .
New York 's plan to become the first major school district in the country to bring students back to the classroom in some capacity has faced criticism as some parents and teachers worry buildings are n't safe , staffs are n't large enough and testing capacity is n't adequate .
De Blasio says in-person classes will help ease the burden of juggling children and jobs for working parents .
'Other than slavery , ' COVID-19 lockdowns are worst civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Attorney General William Barr drew criticism after calling lockdown measures aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19 the worst infringement on civil liberties other than slavery .
Barr 's remark came during a Wednesday question and answer session at Hillsdale College when a moderator asked Barr about the constitutionality of the coronavirus restrictions .
Barr suggested that instead of imposing lockdowns , states should have allowed businesses to try to `` adapt '' to new rules .
`` But putting a national lockdown , stay at home orders , is like house @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Other than slavery , which was a different kind of restraint , this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history . ''
Barr 's reference to slavery in his denunciation of coronavirus restrictions outraged many on social media , such as Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe , who called it an `` obscene comparison '' and said , `` Only an evil fool could talk that way . ''
More than 790,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week , the Labor Department said Thursday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic continues to mount .
In a little more than six months , over 56 million workers have filed for benefits .
The latest weekly tally has dipped significantly from the 6.2 million who filed first-time claims in March , when the economy ground to a virtual halt to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
But the weekly volume of initial claims still hovered near what had previously been the all time high — roughly 1 million — on a non-seasonally adjusted basis during a recession in 1982 .
After a Massachusetts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 attended in-person classes , dozens of other students are under quarantine .
The student went to class Monday at Attleboro High School , and nurses said 30 students had close contact with them .
“ This unacceptable outcome was caused by delays in the reporting timeline , not a breakdown in our safety protocols , ” Superintendent David Sawyer said .
Trump appointees shelved report on threats to voting rights during pandemic The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights spent months analyzing threats to minority voting rights during the coronavirus pandemic , coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ behemoth ” set of recommendations .
But no one will see them .
Conservative commissioners recently appointed by President Donald Trump voted to shelve the report , its findings and recommendations , even commissioners ' statements .
The commissioner who led the research provided a glimpse of the report 's contents during an August meeting , noting it covers problems with in-person and mail-in balloting faced by voters of color , people with disabilities , and those with medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus .
The commission , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ landmark civil rights laws , is made up of eight members .
Trump ’ s appointments in May and August created a four-four split between conservatives and liberals .
A move to release the voting-rights report failed in a tie .
`` I am deeply dismayed that after months of work on a topic that is core to the commission 's congressional charge — and has been now for six decades — for the commission not to speak to this moment , which is unlike any other in terms of an effort to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Catherine Lhamon , the chair of the commission , appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016 .
More states see record week in virus cases , deaths Six states set records for new cases in a week while four states had a record number of deaths in a week , according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Wednesday .
New case records were set in Arkansas , Montana , North Dakota , West Virginia , Wisconsin and Wyoming .
Record numbers of deaths were reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dakota and Wyoming .
Through last Wednesday , only Guam had recorded a new record in number of deaths in a week .
And two weeks ago , only three states set new case records and two states set records in numbers of deaths .
Hawaii to start pre-travel testing program for out-of-state visitors on Oct. 15 Hawaii officials announced the start of a pre-travel testing program that has been delayed twice due to a spike in coronavirus infections .
Starting Oct. 15 , out-of-state travelers wo n't need to quarantine for 14 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , Gov .
David Ige announced Wednesday .
Ige said travelers must get tested within 72 hours before arriving to Hawaii .
Kaiser Permanente and CVS will be conducting the tests .
Feds will distribute COVID-19 vaccine 24 hours after the first one is approved The United States plans to begin distributing coronavirus vaccine within 24 hours of one being approved , federal officials said Wednesday .
It ’ s an audacious goal in an already franticly paced COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution program being overseen by the White House 's aptly-named @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 24 hours after a license or an Emergency Use Authorization is issued `` we have vaccine moving to administration sites , '' Lt. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski , Operation Warp Speed deputy chief of supply , production and distribution , said on a media call Wednesday morning .
The initial rollout could begin as early as late this year or January .
The announcement came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 56-page “ playbook ” outlining details of how the vaccine will be distributed to medical providers nationally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coaches and politicians , the Big Ten ’ s presidents decided Wednesday morning to move forward with an eight-game football season beginning on the weekend of Oct. 24 , reversing their August decision to postpone the fall schedule and ending weeks of drama that spread from campuses all the way to the White House .
Citing new information presented by the league ’ s medical advisory board last weekend , including the imminent availability of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 that can be administered on a daily basis , Big Ten presidents concluded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , even as some of them struggle with infection rates on their own campuses .
“ From the onset of the pandemic , our highest priority has been the health and the safety of our students .
The new medical protocols and standards put into place by the Big Ten Return To Competition Task Force were pivotal in the decision to move forward with sports in the conference , ” said Northwestern president Morton Schapiro , who chairs the Big Ten 's council of presidents and chancellors .
New Jersey Gov .
Phil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events New Jersey Gov .
Phil Murphy slammed the YouTube stars Nelk Boys on Wednesday after a crowd of roughly 2,500 mostly maskless fans descended on Seaside Heights , New Jersey , for pop-up events touched off by the group 's appearance in the borough .
Murphy said the events in Seaside Heights Monday night , which were broken up by police , may be the most `` extreme '' and `` egregious display of knucklehead behavior '' the state has seen during the coronavirus pandemic .
Crowds of revelers gathered outside the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ famous as the one-time home of cast members from the hit MTV reality series , where the Nelk Boys were staying to promote the debut of new merchandise .
A short distance away , another group of about 1,000 fans gathered for a related car club show , police said .
`` It ’ s exactly the type of situation we can not have , '' Murphy said at a coronavirus briefing in Trenton .
`` It was irresponsible from top to bottom in every respect .
And these so-called influencers need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook : A lot is still unknown about the coronavirus .
But what we do know , we 're sharing with you .
Join our Facebook group , Coronavirus Watch , to receive daily updates in your feed and chat with others in the community about COVID-19 .
In your inbox : Stay up to date with the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic from the USA TODAY Network .
Sign up for the daily Coronavirus Watch newsletter .
Tips for coping : Every Saturday and Tuesday we 'll be in your inbox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a little bit of solace in these difficult times .
Sign up for Staying Apart , Together .

Jessica Flores, Ryan W. Miller and Joel Shannon, USA TODAY

Coronavirus updates: Global cases surpass 30M; Moderna targets November for candidate vaccine; 790K more Americans file for unemployment
Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump contradicts CDC director about face masks and vaccines CDC Director Robert Redfield testified at a Senate panel on coronavirus and gave his opinion on face masks, but then President Trump contradicted him. USA TODAY
The worldwide total of known COVID-19 cases surpassed 30 million on Thursday and global fatalities crept closer to one million, both signs of the virus' continuing global impact.
The World Health Organization said cases are surging again in Europe, with more than half of European countries seeing a 10% or greater spike in cases in the past two weeks. COVID-19 is also disproportionately affecting healthcare workers, according to WHO data.
Health workers make up 2-3% of the global population but account for about 14% of reported COVID-19 cases. "Thousands of health workers infected with COVID-19 have lost their lives worldwide," the organization said.
Meanwhile, progress toward a vaccine continued Thursday: Moderna said it was moving up its trial results timeline. The company said it could have enough clinical trial results for its candidate vaccine as soon as November.
That news followed cautions from Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Wednesday. While urging the use of face masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, Redfield warned a vaccine may not be available to the public until next year.
Some significant developments:
North Carolina elementary schools will soon be allowed to return to daily, in-person classes.
New York City pushed back its start date for most students to return to elementary, middle and high school classrooms — again.
Attorney General William Barr drew criticism after calling lockdown measures aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19 the worst infringement on civil liberties other than slavery.
More than 790,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, the Labor Department said, as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount.
Six states set records for new cases in a week while four states had a record number of deaths in a week, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Wednesday.
📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 6.6 million cases and 197,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been more than 30 million cases and 943,000 fatalities.
📰 What we're reading: The CDC has received widespread scrutiny for yielding to political pressure from the White House. These interviews and records provide the most extensive look yet at how the CDC, paralyzed by bureaucracy, failed to consistently perform its most basic job: giving public health authorities the guidance needed to save American lives during a pandemic.
🗺 Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak, state by state
This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.
Wynn Las Vegas has logged almost 500 positive COVID-19 cases among employees since the resort reopened in June.
Wynn Resorts on Thursday revealed the data tied to the company’s testing and contact tracing program, which tests groups of up to 700 employees every two weeks, reports the Reno Gazette Journal, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
With the help of University Medical Center, the company has conducted 15,051 tests, aiming to catch any employees who are positive for the virus but asymptomatic. Of those tests, there have been 548 positive cases – a positivity rate of 3.6%. Of the total, 51 positive cases were recorded pre-reopening and 497 were post-reopening, according to the company.
Wynn Las Vegas has hosted more than 500,000 guests since reopening in early June. Six guests have tested positive, according to the company.
— Ed Komenda, Reno Gazette Journal
Moderna, one of the companies leading the effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, announced Thursday it could have enough clinical trial results as soon as November to confirm the effectiveness of its candidate vaccine.
Results of the vaccine’s effectiveness will be presented to an independent review committee after 53 people in the trial contract COVID-19, and again after 106 and 151 infections. Half the participants are getting a placebo and half the active vaccine, called mRNA-1273.
Statistically, if the vaccine is effective 75% of the time, it should take only 106 infections in both groups to prove its effectiveness, Dr. Jacqueline Miller, Moderna’s senior vice president of infectious disease development, told company investors on Thursday. At that point, which will likely come in November, Moderna could apply for an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin distributing the vaccine.
The FDA has said a vaccine must be at least 50% effective to win federal approval, but the companies developing vaccines have said they are aiming for at least 60% and hopefully even higher effectiveness. Moderna had originally predicted that it might take until May 2021 to prove its vaccine’s effectiveness, but pushed up that timeline because participants joined quickly, the COVID-19 infection rate remained high around trial sites and the company was able to start the trial earlier than originally expected.
— Karen Weintraub
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says flu circulation in the U.S. “is currently at historical lows,” sharply dropping after widespread implementation of school closures, social distancing and mask wearing to curb COVID-19 spread, according to the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Thursday.
According to the report, clinical laboratories reported a 98% decrease in influenza activity between September 2019 to February 2020 and March to May 2020. Other northern hemisphere countries also experienced a sharp decline in influenza circulation, and southern hemisphere countries with temperate climates have had virtually no circulation at all.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
At least eight employees of the nation’s third-largest school district have died and another 250 have had COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, with about half of those cases causing a pause in school operations, Chicago Public Schools said this week.
Most of the cases involved employees who were exposed to community spread or sick family members, the district said. Nearly 13% of the cases are believed to have been part of a cluster discovered at a school, most of which occurred in the spring, the district said.
Chicago Public Schools had initially planned to try out a hybrid model this fall but opted for a fully online approach before the start of school.
– Grace Hauck
If midnight is the start of the pandemic in the U.S. and noon is the time a vaccine is freely available for anyone who wants it, the United States is at about 7 a.m, says USA TODAY's panel of experts in medicine, virology, immunology, logistics and supply chain issues who are estimating how close we are to securing a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
That's an hour closer to noon than last month but still just over halfway to the goal.
With three experimental coronavirus vaccines now in large, human clinical trials in the U.S. and a government expectation at least one could be approved by January, the mantra among experts is “data, data, data” — we need more data.
While efforts to create candidate vaccines have been heroic and followed eagerly by the public, in many ways that's been the easy part, said Prakash Nagarkatti, an immunologist and vice president for research at the University of South Carolina.
“Vaccine technology is not complicated — any research-intensive university has the technology to develop the vaccine,” he said. The challenge is to get through the clinical trials gauntlet with a product proven to be safe and effective.
– Elizabeth Weise and Karen Weintraub
COVID-19: How Herd Immunity works, why you still need to wear a mask Without masks and a vaccine, we could reach Herd Immunity from COVID-19, but deaths would skyrocket. We break down the science of it. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
New York City has pushed back the first day of in-person classes for most of its elementary, middle and high school students, the second delay in a rocky return to the classroom for the nation's largest school district.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that most students would continue online-only learning and transition to its planned hybrid model on Sept. 29 for elementary school students and on Oct. 1 for middle and high school students.
Pre-K and some students with special needs will return to the classroom Monday, the target return date, which had already been pushed back once.
New York's plan to become the first major school district in the country to bring students back to the classroom in some capacity has faced criticism as some parents and teachers worry buildings aren't safe, staffs aren't large enough and testing capacity isn't adequate. De Blasio says in-person classes will help ease the burden of juggling children and jobs for working parents.
More than 790,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount.
In a little more than six months, over 56 million workers have filed for benefits. The latest weekly tally has dipped significantly from the 6.2 million who filed first-time claims in March, when the economy ground to a virtual halt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But the weekly volume of initial claims still hovered near what had previously been the all time high — roughly 1 million — on a non-seasonally adjusted basis during a recession in 1982.
– Charisse Jones
After a Massachusetts high school student who tested positive for COVID-19 attended in-person classes, dozens of other students are under quarantine.
The student went to class Monday at Attleboro High School, and nurses said 30 students had close contact with them. “This unacceptable outcome was caused by delays in the reporting timeline, not a breakdown in our safety protocols,” Superintendent David Sawyer said.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights spent months analyzing threats to minority voting rights during the coronavirus pandemic, coming up with what one commissioner called a “behemoth” set of recommendations.
But no one will see them. Conservative commissioners recently appointed by President Donald Trump voted to shelve the report, its findings and recommendations, even commissioners' statements.
The commissioner who led the research provided a glimpse of the report's contents during an August meeting, noting it covers problems with in-person and mail-in balloting faced by voters of color, people with disabilities, and those with medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus.
The commission, an independent federal agency whose work has informed landmark civil rights laws, is made up of eight members. Trump’s appointments in May and August created a four-four split between conservatives and liberals. A move to release the voting-rights report failed in a tie.
"I am deeply dismayed that after months of work on a topic that is core to the commission's congressional charge — and has been now for six decades — for the commission not to speak to this moment, which is unlike any other in terms of an effort to vote in the history of this country,” said Catherine Lhamon, the chair of the commission, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016.
– Donovan Slack
Six states set records for new cases in a week while four states had a record number of deaths in a week, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Wednesday.
New case records were set in Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Record numbers of deaths were reported in Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Through last Wednesday, only Guam had recorded a new record in number of deaths in a week. And two weeks ago, only three states set new case records and two states set records in numbers of deaths.
– Mike Stucka
Hawaii officials announced the start of a pre-travel testing program that has been delayed twice due to a spike in coronavirus infections.
Starting Oct. 15, out-of-state travelers won't need to quarantine for 14 days if they tested negative for the virus, Gov. David Ige announced Wednesday. Ige said travelers must get tested within 72 hours before arriving to Hawaii.
On Facebook: A lot is still unknown about the coronavirus. But what we do know, we're sharing with you. Join our Facebook group, Coronavirus Watch, to receive daily updates in your feed and chat with others in the community about COVID-19.
In your inbox: Stay up to date with the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic from the USA TODAY Network. Sign up for the daily Coronavirus Watch newsletter.
Tips for coping: Every Saturday and Tuesday we'll be in your inbox, offering you a virtual hug and a little bit of solace in these difficult times. Sign up for Staying Apart, Together.
Contributing: The Associated Press