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Doctors at Holtz Children’s Hospital warn about rise in flu and RSV cases; medical experts offer tips for parents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

Local health experts are warning parents about a recent rise in cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, among young children in South Florida.Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University, said RSV can be serious for a child, offering a sobering statistic.“It is the most common reason why children are hospitalized in the United States, especially very young children,” he said.Dr. Barry Gelman, chief medical officer at Holtz Children’s Hospital spoke with 7News on Thursday about the uptick. More specifically, he said, the number of kids treated at Holtz has seen a sharp rise.“It’s actually a five-fold increase for influenza and a twofold increase for RSV,” he said.Back in July, Gelman said, they were treating fewer than 10 young patients per week, but by the last week of September, those patients increased to 21 per week.Gelman said this increase should be more of a reminder to parents that this ti...

7 Investigates: Elevator Emergencies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

Disabled residents in a Boston public housing complex say they were trapped in their apartments for 15 days because of a broken elevator. 7 Investigates found elevator emergencies are cause for concern across the city. “It’s been going on for so long. It’s not like a today thing or a yesterday thing, it’s been a long term thing,” said Lisandre Montes.Montes lives on the fifth floor of the Ruth Lillian Barkley building in the South End. For more than two weeks, the building’s elevator was out of order. Montes is confined to a wheelchair. So, without a working elevator, she can’t leave her apartment.“I see it as a disrespect to those who are in need because they’re thinking of themselves but they’re not thinking of those who really need it,” Montes said. Bob Burress, who is also disabled, feels his home is now a prison.“This has been very challenging,” he said. “…I just try to deal with my day and take it one day at a time.”Burress’ day was interrupted ...

Dick Butkus, Pro Football Hall of Famer, dies at 80

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

(CNN) — Former Chicago Bears linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dick Butkus has died at the age of 80, the team announced Thursday.Butkus died “peacefully in his sleep overnight at home in Malibu,” California, a statement from his family, posted by the Bears on social media, reads.Butkus was “the ultimate Bear, and one of the greatest players in NFL history,” Chicago Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said.“He was Chicago’s son,” McCaskey said. “His contributions to the game he loved will live forever and we are grateful he was able to be at our home opener this year to be celebrated one last time by his many fans.”A ferocious hitter drafted out of the University of Illinois, Butkus was an imposing force as the Bears’ middle linebacker for all nine of his NFL seasons in the 1960s and 1970s, and made eight Pro Bowls.He retired after playing part of the 1973 season, a few years after suffering a knee injury, and was elected to th...

18-year-old arrested after deadly stabbing of beloved environmental activist in New York City

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

(CNN) — An 18-year-old man has been arrested for the fatal stabbing of a well-known community activist returning home from a wedding with his girlfriend early Monday.Ryan Carson, 32, was at a Brooklyn bus stop just before 4 a.m. when he was confronted by a man who had been kicking scooters on the street, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters Wednesday.“What are you looking at?” the man said to Carson, who tried to de-escalate the situation before he was stabbed three times, once through the heart, according to Kenny. The attack was captured on video.Details of the killing were revealed during a briefing Wednesday in which the New York City Police Department announced a decline in murders, shootings and other violent crimes this year.Police on Thursday identified the suspect as Brian Dowling, who faces charges of murder with depraved indifference, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to an NYPD spokesperson.Carson was sitting with his girlfriend at a bus...

Column: Dick Butkus personified Chicago’s toughness with the Bears. ‘There was no way that guy wasn’t going to be great.’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

In Chicago, where everyone likes to think of themselves as tough, Dick Butkus was the real deal.The Chicago Bears linebacking great, who died Thursday at 80, was considered the toughest guy in a sport in which hitting is not optional.He carried that persona into his post-football life, cashing in on that demeanor in movies and TV and even bringing it to the social media site formerly called Twitter. When Butkus’s account finally was verified in January 2022, he began trolling Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers the day after a Packers playoff loss, writing “Funny, the orange juice tastes a little bit sweeter this morning.”That was why Butkus was still beloved in Chicago decades after his Bears days as a human sledgehammer with a crew cut ended. He never felt the need to be anyone but himself, and that was good enough for us. He later joked about his reputation for creating mayhem.“I’m not so mean,” Butkus told Tribune reporter Cooper...

Five things to know about getting to the Orioles playoff game or the Billy Joel-Stevie Nicks concert Saturday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

On Saturday afternoon, the Orioles will play the Texas Rangers at Camden Yards in the opening game of the American League Division Series — the Orioles’ first playoff appearance since 2016.Mere hours later, crowds will flock to the area for a different attraction: a show put on by rock legends Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens announced the concert in January, long before any potential overlap with an Orioles postseason game was certain.Together, the baseball game and concert are expected to draw more than 90,000 people to the stadium complex. But it’s nothing Baltimore can’t handle, Mayor Brandon Scott told The Baltimore Sun in a written statement.“This Saturday is exactly the kind of day that we want to be having in Baltimore’s vibrant downtown,” Scott said, noting that the city’s Emergency Operations Center is “activated” and that Baltimore has pulled off similar situations before,...

Trump ‘temporarily’ drops lawsuit against former lawyer-turned-witness Michael Cohen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has dropped his $500 million lawsuit against Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer who is now a key witness in a criminal case against him, Cohen and a Trump spokesperson said Thursday night. But the former president did not waive his right to sue again.Trump had accused Cohen of “spreading falsehoods” “with malicious intent” and causing “vast reputational harm” for talking publicly about hush-money payments made to women during Trump’s 2016 campaign that are at the heart of criminal charges he faces in New York. Trump has also accused Cohen of breaking a confidentiality agreement that he signed as a condition of his employment.The former president and GOP front-runner’s decision comes days before he was set to give a deposition in the suit brought in April in Florida. That testimony was originally set for Oct. 3, but Trump rescheduled so he could attend the first three days of a separate New York civil fraud trial. Cohen is likely...

Coyotes agree to deal with Scripps Sports to show games over the air

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Coyotes have reached a four-year deal with Scripps Sports and will become the second NHL team to broadcast games over the air.Scripps will broadcast all non-national Coyotes games to roughly 3 million people in Arizona and Utah in the deal announced Thursday. The Vegas Golden Knights are the only other NHL team to broadcast its games over the air.“One of the challenges of the (regional sports model) is it was really shrinking in terms of the number of households that had access to our games,” Coyotes President and CEO Xavier Gutierrez said. “That was really counter to what we were trying to do and that’s super serving our fan base and really try to capture new fans, especially as we’re building the young, exciting team.”The deal comes a day after Diamond Sports Net Arizona agreed to end its telecast rights agreement with the Coyotes. Diamond Sports has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in Texas since March. The company said in...

New Mexico signs final order to renew permit at US nuclear waste repository

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico environmental regulators on Thursday finalized a 10-year permit extension at the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository that they say will increase oversight and safeguards while prioritizing the cleanup of Cold War-era waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory.The state Environment Department said the permit goes into effect on Nov. 3, following a nine-month public comment period. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico plays a key role in the nation’s multibillion-dollar effort to clean up radioactive waste left behind by decades of nuclear research and bomb-making. It has been licensed previously to take what is known as transuranic waste, or waste generated by the nation’s nuclear weapons program that is contaminated with radioactive elements heavier than uranium.“The new permit will benefit New Mexico and legacy waste clean-up from around the U.S. for years to come,” New Mexico Environment Department Secretary ...

Failure of single component caused Washington seaplane crash that killed 10, NTSB says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:10 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — U.S. investigators have confirmed that a mechanical issue caused the seaplane crash that killed 10 people off an island in Washington state last year. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the Sept. 4, 2022, crash, said Thursday that a single component of a critical flight control system failed, causing an unrecoverable, near-vertical descent into Puget Sound’s Mutiny Bay near Whidbey Island.About 85% of the aircraft was recovered from the ocean floor several weeks after the crash.NTSB investigators examining the wreckage found that a component called an actuator, which moves the plane’s horizontal tail and controls the airplane’s pitch, had become disconnected. That failure would have made it impossible for the pilot to control the airplane. Evidence showed the failure happened before the crash, not as a result of it, investigators concluded.The plane was a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter turboprop operated by Renton-based Fri...