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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Wake-Up Call: 10 Dead, Including Police Officer, In Colorado Shooting

Boulder Daily Camera photo

Ten people were killed, including a police officer, in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, yesterday afternoon. CNN cited a senior law enforcement source as saying the weapon used in the shooting was an AR-15-style rifle. 

A suspect was taken into custody, but police didn't disclose his name or reveal a motive at an evening news conference, during which an emotional Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold called the shooting a "tragedy and nightmare." Police brought a shirtless man with blood running down his leg out of the King Soopers store in handcuffs, but wouldn't say if he was the suspect. They said he was getting medical care and was the only person injured who didn't die. 

The officer killed was identified as 51-year-old Eric Talley. He was reportedly the first officer on the scene, with Herold saying he went to the stores after there was a call about shots fired and someone carrying a rifle. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said, "He was, by all accounts, one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was cut far too short." None of the names of the other nine victims were released, with officials saying families were still being notified.


➤CDC DIRECTOR WARNS OF POSSIBLE SURGE FROM COVID VARIANTS AS CASES UP IN 27 STATES: The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said yesterday that she's worried about the potential for, quote, "another avoidable surge" of Covid-19 in the U.S., if measures like mask-wearing, distancing, and avoiding crowds and travel aren't followed. 

Walensky said at a White House briefing, "As I've stated before, the continued relaxation of prevention measures while cases are still high and while concerning variants are spreading rapidly throughout the United States is a serious threat to the progress we have made as a nation." Her warning came as new cases are rising in more than half of U.S. states. 

A CNBC analysis of John Hopkins University data found that the seven-day average of new cases rose by five percent or more in 27 states as of Sunday. Nationally, there was a one percent rise in cases from the previous week after cases had been rapidly falling since January.

 
➤14TH JUROR SEATED, ONE MORE TO GO, IN TRIAL OF OFFICER CHARGED IN GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH: A 14th juror was seated Monday in the murder and manslaughter trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death. The 14 jurors, who includes two alternates, will hear the case, but Judge Peter Cahill said a 15th juror will also be chosen just in case one is needed. That juror will be excused when opening statements begin on March 29th if the other 14 jurors are still able to serve. Of the 14 jurors, eight are white, four are Black and two are multiracial, nine are women and five are men.

➤SUPREME COURT TO CONSIDER REINSTATING DEATH PENALTY FOR BOSTON MARATHON BOMBER: The Supreme Court said Monday that it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, agreeing to hear an appeal this fall that was filed last year during the Trump administration. A federal appeals court threw out Tsarnaev's death sentence last July, saying the trial judge didn't do enough to ensure the jury wouldn't be biased against him. The Justice Department quickly appealed. Tsarnaev, who's now 27, and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, set off two bombs at the marathon finish line in April 2013, killing three people and injuring some 264 others. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a gunfight with police and being run over by his brother as he fled.

🛫AIRLINES, TOURISM BUSINESS URGE TWH TO REMOVE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS: More than two dozen organizations representing airlines and other tourism-related businesses sent a letter to the White House Monday urging that some coronavirus-related travel restrictions be removed. The letter asked that a plan be created in the next five weeks that would include letting people who've been vaccinated against Covid-19 be exempted from the testing requirement to enter the U.S., and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying that vaccinated people can safely travel. The groups, who included Airlines for America, the lead trade group for the country's largest airlines, the U.S. Travel Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, cited the decline in new Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths, and the ongoing vaccination effort. Even without any action from the government, Americans seem to be deciding on their own that they feel safer traveling, with air travel continuing to increase. More than 1.5 million people went through airport security checkpoints on Sunday for the first time in more than a year.

➤BAKER WHO WON GAY WEDDING CAKE LAWSUIT AGAIN SUED: The Colorado baker who won a partial Supreme Court victory in 2018 after he refused to make a cake for a gay wedding was involved in a trial again Monday after he was sued because he wouldn't make the birthday cake a transgender woman wanted. 

Autumn Scardina tried to order a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside in honor of her gender transition on the same day in 2017 when the Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal brought by baker Jack Phillips in his case. During a virtual trial in Denver yesterday, Scardina said Phillips had said he was against making the wedding cake because he was a Christian and it involved a religious ceremony, but he'd sell any other type of product. So she tried to place her order, saying it was, quote, "calling someone's bluff." 

An attorney for Phillips, Sean Hayes, said his client's refusal to make Scardina's cake was about its message, not discrimination against her. Hayes said, "The message would be that he agrees that a gender transition is something to be celebrated." He also said Phillips had refused to make cakes with other messages he disagreed with, including ones for Halloween. The Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in the original case said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed anti-religious bias when it sanctioned Phillips for refusing to make the gay wedding cake. But the high court didn't rule on the larger issue of whether businesses can cite religious objections to refuse service to gay people.


➤STUDY PARTICIPANTS GAINED 2 POUNDS A MONTH DURING LOCKDOWN:  Lots of us gained weight during the coronavirus lockdowns over the past year, as we were stuck at home more with food readily available and not able to get the kind of exercise, even just walking outside, that we usually do. A new study, with a very small sampling of less than 300 people, tried to get a handle of how much weight people gained, using data from weight measurements from Bluetooth-connected smart scales. It found that people living under shelter-in-place orders gained more than half a pound every 10 days, which works out to nearly two pounds a month. Dr. Gregory M. Marcus, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who was senior author of the research letter published yesterday (March 22nd), said that if people kept up their lockdown habits, they could have easily gained 20 pounds over the year. Marcus noted that many of the participants were losing weight before lockdown orders, and suggests that means the weight they gained could be less than what people in the broader population did, saying what the results showed could be, quote, "the tip of the iceberg."

➤STUDY...MOVE YOUR BODY FOR FIVE MINUTES EVERY HOUR TO COUNTERACT LOCKDOWN INACTIVITY:  It turns out you don’t have to do much to combat the inactivity lockdown has created. King’s College London researchers specifically looked at those with muscle dystrophy and other, similar conditions. They found that before lockdown, participants did a mean of 84.5 minutes of light activity and had a relatively low frequency of hourly movement, but during lockdown, light activity dropped to a mean of 25 minutes per day, and the frequency of hourly movement reduced by a median of 11 percent. Study leader Sarah Roberts-Lewis adds, “Even people who don’t do much exercise have been impacted by lockdown inactivity. […] Moving less is detrimental to health. […] The reduction in light activity measured in this study is likely to be similar for anybody whose daily routine has been restricted by lockdown. Based on our findings, we suggest people move their bodies for 5 minutes each hour during the day. Additionally, spend 30 minutes each day doing some extra light activity, like yoga or chair exercises.”

➤RESEARCHERS: GROWING EVIDENCE LINKS COVID-19, HEARING LOSS:  COVID-19 can cause many different symptoms, but the latest research shows it may cause hearing loss and other auditory issues. Data from 24 studies was analyzed, and researchers from two different organizations found that up to 7.6 percent of COVID-19 patients suffered from hearing loss, 14.8 percent complained of tinnitus, and 7.2 percent reported vertigo. One researcher notes, “Though caution needs to be taken, we hope this study will add to the weight of scientific evidence that there is a strong association between COVID-19 and hearing problems.”




🏀USC, OREGON PULL OFF UPSETS IN NCAA MEN'S TOURNAMENT'S SECOND ROUND: USC AND Oregon both pulled off upsets to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the remaining eight second-round games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament that were played yesterday (March 22nd). Number 6 USC routed third-seeded Kansas 85-51, more than doubling the worst margin of defeat for Kansas in 49 trips to the NCAA Tournament, and Number 7 Oregon downed second-seeded Iowa 95-80. Meanwhile, Gonzaga, the tournament's overall top seed, beat Number 8 Oklahoma 87-71, as it continues its quest to become the first undefeated champion since Indiana 45 years ago.

🏀WRIGHT STATE UPSETS ARKANSAS TO MAKE SECOND ROUND OF NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT FOR FIRST TIME: Number 13 Wright State upset fourth-seeded Arkansas 66-62 in their first-round game of the women's NCAA basketball tournament yesterday, the first time the team has ever won an NCAA tournament game. It's also the first time in school history for either the women's or men's team to make the NCAA tournament's second round. Two other teams won upsets in their first-round games yesterday, with Number 11 BYU topping sixth-seeded Rutgers 69-66, and Number 12 Belmont beating fifth-seeded Gonzaga 64-59.

🏀ROCKETS END 20-GAME LOSING STREAK: The Houston Rockets ended their losing streak at 20 games yesterday, finally getting their first win since February 4th as they beat the Toronto Raptors 117-99. John Wall scored a triple-double for the Rockets, his first in five years, with 19 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds. Houston's 20-game losing streak tied for the ninth-worst in NBA history and the longest in more than five years.

🏈SIX MORE LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST DESHAUN WATSON CLAIMING SEXUAL ASSAULT, INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT: Six more lawsuits were filed against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson Monday alleging sexual assault and inappropriate conduct, including one that claims he sexually assaulted a woman this month. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who's representing the women, has now filed 13 lawsuits against Watson since last week involving massage therapists who claim the conduct happened while they were giving him a massage. Buzbee told a local Houston TV station last night that he'd filed a 14th lawsuit. Watson has denied any wrongdoing. The NFL said last week that the, quote, "matter is under review."

🏒OILERS-CANADIENS GAME POSTPONED DUE TO COVID ISSUES: Last night's scheduled NHL game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens was postponed due to Covid-19 issues. Two Canadiens players, forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, were placed in the Covid protocol. It was the 38th game postponed this season for Covid-related reasons.

🏀LAKERS GREAT ELGIN BAYLOR DEAD AT 86: Los Angeles Lakers great Elgin Baylor, who trailblazed the aerial style of play in the NBA in the 1960s, died Monday of natural causes. He was 86. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss called the Hall of Fame forward, "THE superstar of his era." Baylor spent his 14-year career with the Lakers, first in Minneapolis and then in Los Angeles. He won Rookie of the Year in the 1958-59 season, was the first NBA player to score 70 points in a game, and still holds the single-game NBA Finals scoring record with 61 points in 1962. But despite his superstar career during which he was a regular All-Star, Baylor never won a championship, his Lakers losing in the NBA Finals six times to the Boston Celtics and once to the New York Knicks. The Lakers put up a statue of Baylor outside the Staples Center in 2018.
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