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Biden administration looks to avoid vaccine hiccups as COVID-19 treatment coverage goes commercial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

(The Hill) - The Biden administration is looking to avoid the hiccups of the rollout of new COVID-19 vaccines as it begins shifting coverage of coronavirus treatments to the private market.Private insurance companies will need to start covering treatments beginning Wednesday, but the federal government's supply will remain available for providers to order and distribute from until it runs out or expires.Distributors and health care providers may continue to order Pfizer's Paxlovid from the U.S. government until December 15, and Merck’s Lagevrio through Nov. 10. Medicare and Medicaid will cover the drugs for free through the end of 2024, and the uninsured will also have access to free treatment through 2028 as part of an agreement with the manufacturers.Administration officials have acknowledged the problems when the vaccines moved to commercial payers, but said ample supply plus a relatively long transition period for antivirals should make it so those same issues — delayed ins...

Waterloo Greenway to host annual Dia de los Muertos festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Nonprofit Waterloo Greenway Conservancy's annual Día de los Muertos festival returns to Waterloo Park Wednesday, officials announced in a news release.The event run from 6-10 p.m. Guests are invited to commemorate their loved ones at a community ofrenda, held at the Moody Amphitheater stage. Festivities include face paintings, sugar skull decorating, food and drinks, a Latinx marketplace along with live music and dancing, per the release.More details about the event are available online.

St. Paul man sentenced for arson fire at apartment of woman with protection order against him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

A convicted felon already serving a prison sentence has been given more time behind bars for setting a fire in a woman’s St. Paul apartment after police responded to a report that he violated an order for protection she had against him.Timothy Satin Thigpen, 40, of St. Paul, had pleaded guilty to first-degree arson in connection with starting a bedroom ablaze in the 1500 block of Marion Street on the city’s North End on Feb. 23, 2022.Timothy Satin Thigpen (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Corrections)The nearly seven-year prison sentence handed down by Ramsey County District Judge Edward Sheu will run concurrent with Thigpen’s five-year term he was given in Hennepin County in April 2022 for second-degree assault and possession of a firearm after conviction of a crime of violence. He is currently at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault.Fire crews contained the blaze to the bedroom, though the building’s caretaker told authorities several units were damaged...

Afton: Two school buses involved in crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

A school bus carrying 15 students and a smaller bus with no students on board collided Wednesday in Afton.The crash occurred around 2:40 p.m. at the intersection of Neal Avenue and 15th Street South when the driver of the school bus, traveling eastbound on 15th Street South, pulled out onto Neal Avenue into the path of the mini school bus, which was traveling northbound on Neal, said Laura Perkins, public information manager for the Washington County sheriff’s office.The mini school bus ended up vertical in the ditch; the driver reported minor aches and pains, Perkins said. No injuries were reported by anyone on board the eastbound bus, which was carrying students from grades 6-10 from Stillwater Area School District, she said.“Everyone was evaluated by first responders on scene as a precaution,” she said.Stillwater Area School District officials notified parents, and a second bus was sent to pick up the students and take them home; the district has a contract with Lakeville-b...

Free coffee and resources for veterans at Mall of America event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

Military veterans will be able to receive a voucher for free coffee and information about veterans benefits and services from an AARP Minnesota event on Friday.The event, 9 a.m. to noon Friday at the AARP Information Center at the Mall of America, will also feature staff from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and local County Veterans Service Officers who will be available to answer questions. The information center is at the Mall’s second-floor west side entry.The AARP, founded in 1958, is a nonprofit focused on issues affecting the over-50 population including nursing home residents, people on Medicare, and veterans.Registration for the event can be found at events.aarp.org.Related ArticlesLocal News | Bryce Borca’s parents say son’s disappearance in Eagan has been ‘hardest year of our lives’ Local News | It’s been a century of learning and friendship for the Friday Study Club in Stillwater Local News |...

Local officials share Halloween safety tips

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Officials reminded people there will be more law enforcement patrolling on Halloween and shared safety tips. Albany County District Attorney David Soares urged people to be smart and stay safe.“Proceed with extra caution today this is one of the days where you’re going to have a greater presence of law-enforcement out there,” said Soares.Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple called it the worst day of the year for him out of fear of what can go wrong. “Listen, this is supposed to be a fun day. The kids will be out. A lot of adults will be out hitting some of our local institutions. But I worry about Halloween because it is a day where it gets dark early and a lot of young kids are out on our streets,” said Apple. “Be seen, be smart, be safe.”They said trick or treaters should wear reflective clothing and use flash flights. They advise motorists to drive slow and for those who plan on celebrating with a drink to have a designated driver. Get the latest news...

WellNow Urgent Care drops Excellus BlueCross BlueShield due to 'unfair rates'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

SYRACUSE (WSYR-TV) -- After more than a year trying to negotiate with Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, WellNow urgent care announced Tuesday, October 31 that they will no longer accept Excellus because of "unfair rates." as of the end of the year.Just last month, WellNow announced they were temporarily closing locations and that's because the company was sending a warning to Excellus, urging them to update "current and renewal reimbursement rates that reflect both the cost and the value of the services WellNow Urgent Care centers provide." Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! In its warning letter sent to Excellus on Sept. 30, WellNow stated Excellus "failed to commit to reasonable reimbursement rates for the critically important, quality healthcare services WellNow Urgent Care centers deliver to Excellus insureds in communities throughout Central New York."They gave Excellus 30 days to mutually agree with its terms from the date of t...

Trump’s relationship with far-right groups under scrutiny during ‘insurrection’ trial in Colorado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI (Associated Press)DENVER (AP) — Lawyers sparred Tuesday over former President Donald Trump’s relationship with the mob that attacked the Capitol, an important point in a Colorado lawsuit seeking to bar him from the 2024 ballot under the rarely used “insurrection” clause of the Constitution.Still to come: arguments over whether the events of Jan. 6, 2021, amounted to an insurrection under a provision put in the Constitution in 1868 to prevent former confederates from taking over the government.The plaintiffs presented testimony from an extremism expert who maintained that Trump had a clear relationship with far-right extremists and that they interpreted his pleas to protest the certification of President Joe Biden’s win as a call to arms.“A consistent theme is individuals reporting that they thought that Donald Trump had sent them there,” said sociology professor Peter Simi of Chapman University, a private college in Southern California.Trump’s lawyers say his co...

In shadow of loss, mother of Aurora theater shooting victim’s long search for happiness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

AJIJIC, Mexico — There’s a look Sandy Phillips came to know each time she arrived somewhere a gunman had made famous. Her road trip through mass shooting sites went on for a decade and always seemed to have a new stop. When she reached it, she’d lock eyes with someone and see the catatonia, as plain as the weight of every leaden step they’d taken since the news that upended their life.She, too, had inched through days when all the world’s laughter went silent and its beauty was lost. In a morning fog, she’d question if it all was a nightmare, and in the black of night, when the grisly visions clawed her awake, she’d lie there wishing it was she who had died. Life became a torturous cycle punctuated by her own sobbing. She was sure she was creeping toward insanity.Now she found herself in Newtown or Parkland or Uvalde or whatever fresh hell had just been put on the map. She had lessons to share, advice that could only be amassed by someone who’d lived through the same. So, she’...

Fire crews struggling to contain wildfire in Riverside County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:31 GMT

Firefighters in Riverside County are struggling to make progress in their battle against a Santa Ana wind-fueled wildfire that has forced thousands of people from their homes.The Highland Fire in Aguanga, a sparsely populated area east of Temecula, had consumed at least 2,200 acres of dry brush and trees and three structures as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Cal Fire.Another six structures have been damaged.The fire erupted just after noon on Monday near Highlands and Aguanga Ranchos roads and spread rapidly in the hot and dry desert winds.Fire crews battle the Highland Fire in Aguanga, California. Oct. 31, 2023. (KTLA)Fire crews battle the Highland Fire in Aguanga, California. Oct. 31, 2023. (KTLA)Smoke seen billowing over mountains in Riverside County, CA on Oct. 31, 2023. (ALERTCalifornia)Smoke seen billowing over mountains in Riverside County, CA on Oct. 31, 2023. (ALERTCalifornia)Firefighter seen working to extinguish several mobile home ablaze during the Highlands Fire in ...