U.S. News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Residents of long-term care homes in California make up nearly 40% of the COVID-19 deaths in the state, new public health data shows, making skilled nursing and assisted living facilities by far the deadliest hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic.At least 578 nursing home residents in California have died of complications caused by the new coronavirus, according to state health department data published Tuesday, approximately one-third of all confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the state.Tuesday was the first time California officials had released any numbers about deaths at nursi...

CHICAGO — Terry Donahue, an infielder-turned-catcher for the Peoria Redwings women’s professional baseball team, met Pat Henschel in 1947 while spending the off-season in Canada. They fell in love and lived together in the Chicago area for nearly six decades before coming out to their families in 2009, when they were in their 80s.“They just started telling us their story, dating back from the 1940s,” Donahue’s great-nephew, Chris Bolan, told the Tribune. “I was just absolutely amazed, and at the end of it they started dancing in the living room together. I remember thinking, ‘Ohmigod, I have t...

CHICAGO — New video from a police-involved shooting that wounded a man at a Red Line subway station earlier this year was released on Tuesday.The independent agency that investigates Chicago police on Tuesday released more than a dozen video and audio clips from a controversial shooting by an officer that wounded a man who had been struggling with her and her partner at a Red Line subway station earlier this year.While cell phone video was released shortly after the shooting at the Grand Avenue station — with Mayor Lori Lightfoot calling it “extremely disturbing — the new footage provides clos...

NEW YORK — MTA officials are scrambling to ensure New York’s subway system doesn’t turn into a rolling petri dish for a new wave of coronavirus infections once state officials begin easing lockdown measures.With nearly 6 million daily commuters pre-pandemic and not enough space to sneeze — let alone stand several feet apart — there’s a growing concern that a return to regular work life will make some straphangers super-spreaders.Rules put in place earlier this month that require subway riders to wear face coverings are expected to remain in place for months to come, officials said. But even wi...

New York (AFP) - A New York emergency doctor who treated coronavirus patients has killed herself, with family, police and physicians linking her death to trauma faced by health care workers battling the outbreak.Lorna Breen, 49, died on Sunday from self-inflicted injuries in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she had been staying with her family, police said in a statement.Breen ran the emergency department of New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, a facility that has seen a huge influx of COVID-19 patients.While it is not clear why she took her own life, her family, police and docto...

Ocala (United States) (AFP) - Since the United States closed its movie theaters in March to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a small drive-in cinema in Florida has enjoyed a revival that recalls life in the 1950s.“The old cliche that 'the show must go on' is not a cliche. It’s a way of life to us,” said John Watzke, owner of the Ocala Drive-In in the Florida town of Ocala.He said that his is one of only 11 still operating across the nation during the lockdowns.The rusting sign surrounded by stars revives memories of the heyday of the drive-ins, when movie-goers would park their car...

Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra’s film “The Infiltrators” is a fascinating experiment in nonfiction storytelling that remains engaging, even when its unique style falters, thanks to an unbelievable true story of impassioned activism.In 2012, during the height of the debate over undocumented immigrants and the political fight over the DACA and DREAM Act, a few young Dreamers decided to take a different tack, risk it all and make themselves and their activism bold, aggressive and visible. Spearheaded by Mohammad Abdollahi, the group, no longer content with sit-ins and petitions, decided to attac...

MIAMI — Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 708 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total of confirmed cases to 32,846. There were 83 new deaths announced — the highest reported on a single day — bringing the statewide death toll to 1,171.The 83 new deaths are the most the state has announced in one day since April 14, when 72 deaths were reported.Besides the high death toll, Tuesday’s number of new cases is also the highest the state has seen in the past three days. Saturday was the lowest, when the state reported a total of 306 new cases and nine deaths — a ste...

President Donald Trump has said throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic that the governor in his home state of Florida has made the toughest decisions about how to run the state on his own, even though the two have spoken regularly ahead of big announcements.But before starting to lift a prolonged, government-mandated shutdown in Florida — a statewide stay-at-home order is expiring Thursday at midnight — Gov. Ron DeSantis traveled Tuesday to Washington to meet face-to-face with his state’s most powerful resident.“I’ve worked with the White House on kind of going to Phase One. I’m going to ma...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s public universities want ACT and SAT scores to be optional for students applying for 2021 admission, if the two national exams do not resume a regular testing schedule in August, according to a letter from admissions directors to the state.The change, if approved, would be temporary but also groundbreaking for Florida’s 12 universities, where minimum scores on the exams are required and high scores are viewed as needed to get into the most-selective state schools.The Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, is expected to take up the matter May ...

Los Angeles (AFP) - Movie moguls, directors and lawyers are searching for radical solutions to reopen Hollywood as soundstages gather dust and studio profits slide weeks after cameras stopped rolling due to coronavirus.The film industry has been on lockdown in California since mid-March following strict stay-at-home orders, with movie and television shoots particularly exposed to the pandemic because of the large casts and crews required.But even as politicians mull a gradual easing of restrictions, insiders say Tinseltown's sky-high costs -- and liabilities -- mean filmmaking could look very ...

New York (AFP) - As it reports first quarter earnings Wednesday, Boeing faces many questions over how it will navigate the coronavirus crisis and its devastating impact on global aviation.The largest exporter of manufactured goods in the United States, Boeing is expected by Wall Street analysts to report a big loss and a 24 percent plunge in revenues.The downturn reflects the profoundly weak outlook for commercial aviation in the wake of the grounding of much of the world's planes as governments combat COVID-19.Airlines have postponed deliveries, deferred payments to Boeing and retired older a...

New York (AFP) - The Macy's department store located two blocks from the Empire State Building in New York City is a stop on many tourists' itineraries, but visitors may need to find another shopping temple once the coronavirus pandemic is over.Iconic American department store chains like Macy's, Nordstrom and JCPenney are in a fight for survival as the coronavirus pandemic forces them to close and lay off their employees, worsening their already precarious financial situation.Sales of clothing and accessories dropped by more than half in March, according to the Commerce Department, and the nu...