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CDC: COVID Vaccinated Students, Teachers Don't Need To Wear Masks In Classroom CDC: COVID Vaccinated Students, Teachers Don't Need To Wear Masks In Classroom
CDC: COVID Vaccinated Students, Teachers Don't Need To Wear Masks In Classroom Fully vaccinated teachers and students do not have to wear masks while in the classroom starting this fall under brand-new COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Friday, July 9. The updated recommendation comes as more than 55 percent of the United States' population has received at least one vaccine dose, including more than 47 percent who are fully vaccinated.  Children under the age of 12 are not currently eligible to receive any of the three COVID-19 vaccines in the nation. The CDC's updated guidance recommends that individuals who are no…

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by Nicole Valinote
News
Somerset Man Who Flew To Philippines For Sex With Minor Sentenced To 9 Years In Fed Pen Somerset Man Who Flew To Philippines For Sex With Minor Sentenced To 9 Years In Fed Pen
Somerset Man Who Flew To Philippines For Sex With Minor Sentenced To 9 Years In Fed Pen A Somerset County man who flew to the Philippines to have sex with a minor he met online is headed to federal prison for nine years. James A. Diggs, 45, of Somerville, told a U.S. District Court judge earlier this year that he used a messaging app to “persuade, induce, entice, and coerce” the victim into having sex with him during what became an October 2018 visit to the Southeast Asian country. He headed there out of JFK Airport in Queens at least seven times over four years, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachel A. Honig said. Rather than go to trial, Diggs took a deal from the gove…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jamaican Man, Peruvian Woman Admit Smuggling 22 Pounds Of Cocaine Into Newark Airport Jamaican Man, Peruvian Woman Admit Smuggling 22 Pounds Of Cocaine Into Newark Airport
Jamaican Man, Peruvian Woman Admit Smuggling 22 Pounds Of Cocaine Into Newark Airport Two people in two days this week admitted smuggling more than 22 pounds of cocaine combined into Newark Airport. Perez Omar Gibbs, 38, of Jamaica told a federal judge in Newark via videoconference that he hid more than six pounds of coke in two bags of coffee and four picture frames aboard a flight from Montego Bay, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. In an unrelated case, Honig said, Yolanda Fonseca Melgarejo, 59, a legal permanent resident of the United States and a citizen of Peru, told another judge in Newark that she concealed more than 15 pounds in chocolate candy on a flight …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Philly Corrections Officer, Inmate, GF Trafficked $69K In Drugs, Phones Into Prison Feds: Philly Corrections Officer, Inmate, GF Trafficked $69K In Drugs, Phones Into Prison
Feds: Philly Corrections Officer, Inmate, GF Trafficked $69K In Drugs, Phones Into Prison A 33-year-old Philadelphia Corrections Officer was federally charged with trafficking as much as $69,000 in drugs and smuggling cell phones into a prison, authorities announced. A 36-year-old inmate and his 42-year-old girlfriend -- both of Philadelphia -- were charged as co-conspirators in the seven-count indictment, Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said. Officer Haneef Lawton, inmate Kernard Murray and Charene Stallings were charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of federal program bribery, and distribution (and possession with intent to distri…

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
AAA: Memorial Day Weekend Gas Prices Will Be Highest They've Been In Years AAA: Memorial Day Weekend Gas Prices Will Be Highest They've Been In Years
AAA: Memorial Day Weekend Gas Prices Will Be Highest They've Been In Years With millions of Americans set to hit the road for the Memorial Day holiday, prices are peaking at the pump. Drivers are set to pay the highest prices in seven years, according to AAA, following a gas shortage that impacted the East Coast when the Colonial Pipeline was temporarily shut down due to a cyberattack. Nationally, the average price of gas as of Wednesday, May 26 hit $3.04 per gallon, down one cent from a week ago, but up from $2.89 a month ago. A year earlier, the average price was $1.96 per gallon. According to AAA, the national average has stabilized following the Colonial Pip…

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by Zak Failla
News
COVID-19: First Case Of 'Variant Of Concern' From India Found In US COVID-19: First Case Of 'Variant Of Concern' From India Found In US
Covid-19: First Case Of 'Variant Of Concern' From India Found In US As COVID-19 deaths mount in India, health officials in the United States are now contending with a new strain of the virus that has been reported stateside. One day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 variant from India was a “cause of global concern,” it was announced that the strain had spread to dozens of countries, including the United States. The so-called B.1617 variant made its first domestic appearance after it was discovered in a patient in Arizona being treated for COVID. According to researchers, the India variant, like several others that have …

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by Zak Failla
News
COVID-19: Vaccinated Americans Can Soon Go Without Face Mask Indoors, Report Says Citing CDC COVID-19: Vaccinated Americans Can Soon Go Without Face Mask Indoors, Report Says Citing CDC
Covid-19: Vaccinated Americans Can Soon Go Without Face Mask Indoors, Report Says Citing CDC Americans who are fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 will soon be able to stop wearing masks indoors in most places, the Associated Press reported Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is apparently set to issue new guidance on indoor mask-wearing, encouraging face coverings in crowded indoor areas only, the AP said citing a CDC source. Areas that will still require masks include buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters. As of Thursday afternoon, approximately 46 percent of the American population -- or 154 million people -- were fully vaccinated, data…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Ruthless But Reliable? Ransom Group Tied To Colonial Pipeline Hack Says They're Not Bad Guys Ruthless But Reliable? Ransom Group Tied To Colonial Pipeline Hack Says They're Not Bad Guys
Ruthless But Reliable? Ransom Group Tied To Colonial Pipeline Hack Says They're Not Bad Guys Darknet cyberhackers whose ransomware forced the shutdown of a 5,500-mile pipeline between New Jersey and Texas said Monday that they’re in it for the money and not to disrupt society. DarkSide, which popped up last summer, has presented itself as a band of online Robin Hoods who sell the tools to extort businesses and organizations to cyber-burglars and then donate a portion of their take to charitable organizations. It remained unclear exactly who targeted the Colonial Pipeline on Friday, jamming an estimate 2.5 million daily barrels of jet fuel, gasoline and other refined product deliver…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Obituaries
Andrew Bilheimer Of New Holland Dies After 'Losing Addiction Battle,' Obit Says Andrew Bilheimer Of New Holland Dies After 'Losing Addiction Battle,' Obit Says
Andrew Bilheimer Of New Holland Dies After 'Losing Addiction Battle,' Obit Says Andrew Bilheimer of New Holland, and formerly of Bethlehem, died on May 3 after "losing his battle with addiction." He was 33. Bilheimer is a United States veteran, having previously served in Iraq, according to his obituary. Bilheimer was remembered as someone who "enjoyed reading, gaming, fishing and playing soccer, basketball, football, and baseball."  He is survived by his mother Laurie (Moore) Bilheimer, and her husband Scott Stackhouse; father, Robert W. Bilheimer; fiancé Gina, his brother, Stephen Bilheimer; sister, Sarah Bilheimer; stepbrother, Michael Stac…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Report: Risk Of Getting COVID After Vaccine Low As Shark Attack, Plane Crash Report: Risk Of Getting COVID After Vaccine Low As Shark Attack, Plane Crash
Report: Risk Of Getting COVID After Vaccine Low As Shark Attack, Plane Crash Government data released last week show that 5,800 fully vaccinated Americans still got COVID, anyway. Which means what? “That may sound like a big number, but it indicates that a vaccinated person’s chances of getting Covid are about one in 11,000,” the New York Times reports. Put another way, “either zero or one vaccinated person will die today from Covid,” David Leonhardt wrote. Compare that with the estimated 100 U.S. vehicle deaths each day, he added. The risk becomes clearer when considering President Biden's announcement Wednesday that the United States this week is exceeding 200 …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Philly Man Admits Smuggling $200K In Gun Parts To Turkey, Republic Of Georgia Philly Man Admits Smuggling $200K In Gun Parts To Turkey, Republic Of Georgia
Philly Man Admits Smuggling $200K In Gun Parts To Turkey, Republic Of Georgia A Philadelphia man admitted Tuesday that he conspired to smuggle more than than $200,000 worth of gun parts out of the United States to Turkey and the Republic of Georgia, authorities said. Samet Doyduk, 35, told a federal judge in Camden that he and others bought upper receivers, barrels, and magazines for several different types of Glock handguns from suppliers in the United States. After repackaging them, he said, they exported the defense parts to their customers using false labels. Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Doyduk and the others used credit cards, Pay-Pal accounts, an…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
COVID-19: Here's Number Of Americans Infected Despite Being Vaccinated, CDC Says COVID-19: Here's Number Of Americans Infected Despite Being Vaccinated, CDC Says
Covid-19: Here's Number Of Americans Infected Despite Being Vaccinated, CDC Says The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has released the first data on so-called "breakthrough" COVID-19 cases, meaning individuals who have become infected -- despite being fully vaccinated. So far, there have been about 5,800 such cases, the CDC told CNN.  At the time that data was collected, 77 million American adults had been fully vaccinated, meaning 99.992 percent had dodged the disease. The efficacy rates of the double-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both around 95 percent. "To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in case demographics or v…

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by Joe Lombardi