Month: April 2024

According to a new report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most recent outbreak of measles is threatening the United States’ elimination status. The CDC report states that measles has spread at a rapid clip this year: from January to March, the U.S. recorded around 30% of the total cases seen since the beginning of 2020. The rapid increase in the number of measles cases during the first quarter of 2024 “represents a renewed threat to the U.S. elimination status,” according to the CDC report.

Measles is highly contagious, and an infected person can spread the disease to up to 90% of people close to them if those contacts aren’t immune. An article from NBC News reports that from 2020 through 2023, the U.S. recorded an average of five measles cases in the first quarter of each year. Those low numbers were due, in part, to the Covid pandemic, when fewer people were interacting in person. By contrast, this year’s first-quarter tally was 97.  Additionally, the United States nearly lost that elimination status in 2019, when it recorded more than 1,200 cases — most of which were associated with outbreaks in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York. The high case load this year could put that elimination in jeopardy once again — as of April 4, the U.S. had already recorded seven outbreaks and 113 cases.

Per ABC News, the first measles vaccine was introduced in 1963 and, thanks to a yearslong and highly effective vaccination campaign, measles was considered eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, meaning the disease is no longer constantly present (though there are still occasional outbreaks.) The U.S. has been able to maintain its elimination status, despite cases popping up due to international travel and unvaccinated or under-vaccinated communities.

The CDC report calls for more widespread vaccination coverage, sharing that approximately 91% of measles cases recorded in the U.S. since January 2020 were among people who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. The report further states that in 2024 so far, 83% of recorded cases have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown; while half of the 2024 cases have been in children under age 5. 65 people have been hospitalized. this year, and no one has died of measles in the last four years. The report states that one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is 93% effective at preventing measles, and two doses are 97% effective, but added that the “risk for widespread U.S. measles transmission remains low because of high population immunity.”

Editorial credit: Aleksandr Finch / Shutterstock.com

O.J. Simpson — NFL football star, and controversial, high-profile subject of one of the most famous murder trials of all time — has died at age 76. Las Vegas outlet Local10.com had reported earlier this year that Simpson was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer in February 2024.

The Simpson family shared in a statement via X on Thursday, April 11: “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.”

Simpson originally rose to fame and popularity as a football player: first as the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback for the University of Southern California in the late 1960s, and later playing 11 seasons in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers. Per ESPN, Simpson won four NFL rushing titles, rushed for 11,236 yards in his career, scored 76 touchdowns, made five first-team All-Pro squads and played in six Pro Bowls. His best season was 1973, when he ran for 2,003 yards — the first running back to break the 2,000-yard rushing mark (doing it in 14 games) while averaging 141.3 yards per game – which is still an NFL record.

Simpson later went on to become a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” as well as dabbling in acting in movies such as “The Naked Gun” series in the 1980s. He appeared in films such as “The Klansman,” “The Cassandra Crossing” and “The Towering Inferno,” as well as the miniseries “Roots”.

However, he became infamous and a household name following the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, who were fatally stabbed. Simpson was married to Nicole Brown Simpson from 1985 to 1992; she was found stabbed to death outside her Brentwood condo alongside her friend, Ron Goldman, on June 12, 1994. Simpson was charged with the murders when investigators found a glove with blood stains on his property, and he originally agreed to turn himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department; but instead, he became involved in a low-speed car chase on June 17 as he evaded being arested. Police pursued Simpson as he rode in a 1993 Ford Bronco driven by his former teammate Al Cowlings, who said that Simpson was holding a gun to his own head during the drive.

Simpson was arrested for their deaths, after which the highly-publicized, 11-month criminal trial took place from 1994-95. The trial became one of the most significant events of the 1990s, and is believe to have been one of the most widely publicized events in American history. Amid much controversy, Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Brown Simpson, and Goldman.

Simpson’s legal troubles were far from over, however, when in 2008 he was found guilty on 12 charges relating to an armed robbery incident in Las Vegas in 2007. Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison and was granted parole in July 2017 before being released in October 2017, and eventually granted early discharge from parole in December 2021. (per Entertainment Weekly)

Simpson is survived by kids Arnelle, Jason, Aaren, Sydney and Justin. (Simpson shared Arnelle, Jason and Aaren with first wife Marguerite Whitley; he shared children Sydney and Justin with ex-wife Nicole.)

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On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump said that a new court ruling in Arizona upholding a near total ban on abortion in the state – based on a 19th-century law – had gone too far and “needs to be straightened out.” Under the law from 1864, anyone who performs the procedure or helps a woman access that care could face felony charges and up to two to five years in prison. The law includes an exception to save the woman’s life.

Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters after landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of a campaign fundraiser; when asked if the Arizona court’s judges went too far, Trump replied: “Yeah, they did …It’s all about states’ rights and it needs to be straightened out …And I’m sure that the governor and everybody else will bring it back into reason and that will be taken care of.” Trump also reiterated his position that the issue of abortion should be left up to states: “It’s the will of the people,” he said, adding that he would not sign a federal abortion ban if he is elected president again and Congress sends such legislation to his desk (per ABC News.)

When asked about a Florida court decision earlier this month that upheld the state’s 15-week ban and paved the way for a six-week ban, Trump said that “is probably going to change” while emphasizing his part in the “incredible achievement” of overruling Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections and leaving it up to the states: “We did that and now the states have it, and the states are putting out what they want. It’s the will of the people. Arizona is going to definitely change, everybody wants that to happen.”

President Joe Biden’s campaign spokesman Michael Tyler responded by slamming Trump’s comments, saying the former President “lies constantly – about everything — but has one track record: banning abortion every chance he gets. Donald Trump owns the suffering and chaos happening right now, including in Arizona, because he proudly overturned Roe – something he called ‘an incredible thing’ and ‘pretty amazing’ just today.”

Editorial credit: YASAMIN JAFARI TEHRANI / Shutterstock.com

Ex-Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in jail for perjury after he lied under oath during his testimony in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial and during the investigation that preceded it. Weisselberg, 76, was ordered to serve his sentence at New York’s Riker’s Island after reaching a plea agreement last month. The hearing lasted only about two minutes.

Judge Laurie Peterson said during sentencing: “The promise is five months of incarceration. Mr. Weisselberg is there anything you’d like to say?” Weisselberg replied, “No your honor,” before he was handcuffed and taken out of the courtroom into custody.

Weisselberg was accused of committing perjury in a deposition and during testimony in Trump’s trial, including allegedly lying when he said in July 2020 that he learned Trump’s triplex apartment had been overvalued from a Forbes report, though he actually knew about it well beforehand. During his trial testimony, Weisselberg struggled to explain why the apartment, which is less than 11,000 square feet, was listed on Trump’s statements of financial condition as 30,000 square feet. Weisselberg pleaded guilty last month to two felony counts of perjury that charged him with lying under oath.

In a statement after the sentencing, Weisselberg’s attorney, Seth L. Rosenberg, said his client “accepted responsibility for his conduct and now looks forward to the end of this life-altering experience and to returning to his family and his retirement.” (per NBC News)

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