The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies’ normal authorities.
Stories by Associated Press
Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet, Dies at 84
The Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL Alumni Association announced the death of the two-time NHL MVP on Monday. There were no further details provided by either organization.
Memphis Authorities Release Video in Tyre Nichols' Death
Nichols’ family members and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.
FDA Moves to Ease Rules for Blood Donations From Gay Men
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced draft guidelines that would do away with the current three-month abstinence requirement for donations from men who have sex with men. Instead, all potential donors would be screened with a new questionnaire that evaluates their individual risks for HIV.
Youth Program Founder Hurt in Iowa Shooting Escaped Chicago Gang, Moved to Help Other Young People
Will Keeps was a 15-year-old member of a Chicago gang when he witnessed rival members kill his friend. He escaped the streets and moved to Iowa to help other young people from troubled backgrounds.
Former Chicago Graduate Students Gets 8 Years After Spying for Chinese Government
A federal jury in Chicago in September convicted Ji Chaoqun, 31, of conspiracy to act as an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security without notifying the U.S. attorney general, acting as a spy in the U.S., and lying on a government form about his contacts with foreign agencies.
Central Illinois Man Charged in Peoria Planned Parenthood Clinic Fire
Tyler W. Massengill, 32, of Chillicothe, is accused of malicious use of fire and an explosive to damage, and attempt to damage the clinic in Peoria, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
US Investigating December Flight Cancellations at Southwest Airlines
Southwest canceled about 16,700 flights over the last 10 days of December. The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating whether the airline deceived customers by knowingly scheduling more flights than it realistically could handle.
NRA Sues in Federal Court Over Illinois Ban on Semiautomatic Weapons
The powerful NRA joined a parade of gun-rights activists seeking to toss out the newly minted prohibition on dozens of rapid-fire pistols and long guns, as well as large-capacity magazines or attachments.
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Mike Clevinger Investigated by MLB for Domestic Violence
Chicago White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger is being investigated by Major League Baseball following an allegation of domestic violence, the team announced in a statement.
Classified Documents at Pence’s Indiana Home, Too, His Lawyer Says
The records “appear to be a small number of documents bearing classified markings that were inadvertently boxed and transported to the personal home of the former vice president at the end of the last administration,” Pence’s lawyer, Greg Jacob, wrote in the letter shared with The Associated Press.
Citing Ukraine War and Specter of Nuclear Weapons, ‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves 90 Seconds to Midnight
“We are really closer to that doomsday,” former Mongolian president Elbegdorj Tsakhia said Tuesday at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists annual announcement rating how close humanity is from doing itself in.
Explainer: Crypto Firms Acted Like Banks, Then Collapsed Like Dominoes
In a span of less than 12 months, nearly all of the biggest cryptocurrency equivalent of a banks have failed spectacularly. Last week, Genesis filed Chapter 11, joining Voyager Digital, Celsius and BlockFi on the list of companies that have either filed for bankruptcy protection or gone out of business.
US Health Officials Propose Yearly COVID Shots for Most Americans
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus.
Police Seek to Determine Why 72-Year-Old Gunman Shot Up LA Dance Hall, Killing 10 People
The suspect, Huu Can Tran, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday, had visited police in his town of Hemet twice this month to allege he was the victim of fraud, theft and poisoning by family members between 10 and 20 years ago in the LA area, spokesman Alan Reyes told The Associated Press.
Biden’s Next Climate Hurdle: Enticing Americans to Buy Green
It’s a public relations challenge that could determine whether the country meets President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Durbin: Biden Should Be ‘Embarrassed’ by Classified Docs Case
Biden should be “embarrassed by the situation,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, adding that the president had ceded the moral high ground on an issue that has already entangled former President Donald Trump.
Judge Temporarily Blocks Illinois Assault Weapons Ban for Plaintiffs in Lawsuit
The ruling only applies to 850 plaintiffs listed in a lawsuit in Effingham County and four licensed gun dealers.
Illinois Medics Charged in Patient’s Killing Bound for Trial
An Illinois judge ruled Friday that two emergency medical professionals should face first-degree murder charges after a patient they strapped facedown to a stretcher suffocated.
Supreme Court Leak Report Findings: Lax Security, Loose Lips
Eight months, 126 formal interviews and a 23-page report later, the Supreme Court said it has failed to discover who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning abortion rights.
Google Cuts 12,000 Jobs, Layoffs Spread Across Tech Companies
It is the company’s biggest-ever round of layoffs and adds to tens of thousands of other job losses recently announced by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and other tech companies as they tighten their belts amid a darkening outlook for the industry. Just this month, there have been at least 48,000 job cuts announced by major companies in the sector.
Illinois Man’s Family Files Lawsuit After Paramedics Charged With Murder
Prosecutors have separately charged two paramedics with first-degree murder, accusing them of tightly strapping Earl Moore on a stretcher after Springfield police who initially responded to a 911 call at Moore’s home requested an ambulance.
US Treasury Buys Time for Biden and GOP on Debt Limit Deal
The Treasury Department said in a letter to congressional leaders it has started taking “extraordinary measures” as the government has run up against its legal borrowing capacity of $31.381 trillion. An artificially imposed cap, the debt ceiling has been increased roughly 80 times since the 1960s.
Explainer: How Ominous is the Debt Limit Problem?
On the brink of hitting the nation’s legal borrowing limit on Thursday, the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. Sounds ominous, right? But — take a breath — the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds.
Wholesale Inflation in US Slowed Further in December to 6.2%
The ongoing slowdown in wholesale price growth is adding to evidence that the worst bout of inflation in four decades is steadily easing, though it remains far above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
Kevin Warren Ready to Embrace New Challenge as Bears President
A new suburban stadium could be on the horizon for the Chicago Bears and the team owns the No. 1 pick in the draft coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
