October Newsbytes #3

By: Staff Writer Andrew Choi

 

Local: Bay Area Hospitals Prepare for Potential Ebola Outbreak 

As the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to alarm the world, Bay Area hospitals are making changes in their routines in order to contain the spread of the deadly virus in the unlikely case it does reach the area.  A breach in protocol at a Dallas hospital already exposed at least one nurse to the virus and local hospitals are determined that the same thing won’t happen here. Safety drills are a frequent occurrence now and hospital staff are quickly stocking up on bleach, heavy-duty gowns and goggles. Many hospitals including John Muir Health in Walnut Creek and Palo Alto Medical Foundation are waiting for deliveries of safety suits and other equipment because of the extremely high demand.

 

National: US Supreme Court Blocks Texas Abortion Restrictions

The US Supreme Court allowed more than a dozen Texas abortion clinics to reopen on Oct. 14, 2014. It blocked a state law that had imposed strict requirements onto abortion clinics. If the Supreme Court had not blocked the law, all but eight of Texas’ abortion clinics would have had to close. This would have led to women having to travel up to a 150 miles to reach a clinic. State officials said the law’s stringent requirements were needed to protect women’s health. However, abortion providers said the regulations were “expensive, unnecessary and a ruse meant to put many of them out of business”.

 

International: Malala Yousafzai and Kaliash Satyarthi Win Nobel Peace Prize

Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year old student and education activist, became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on October 10, 2014. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago for fighting for education for girls. Since then, the world has transformed her into a global symbol for the fight to allow girls everywhere access to an education. She was jointly awarded the prize with Indian Kailash Satyarthi, a children’s rights activist and a global frontrunner face against child labor. The Nobel Committee praised “their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.

 

Quirky: Man Arrested for Alleged Aggressive Mopping

John Thornton, a 30-year old man visiting the Double Tree hotel in Bristol, Connecticut, was arrested on Oct. 13, 2014 for “mopping aggressively.” He apparently did not like the way a female employee was mopping and allegedly grabbed a mop from the employee and began mopping, becoming more and more aggressive, to the point where he was mopping over the employee’s shoes multiple times. When police arrived the employee was “shaken and crying” and Thornton was charged with breach of peace. However, while he was being transported, he allegedly shouted insults and expletives at the officers and threatened bodily harm, leading to a second charge of second-degree threatening. Thornton posted a $20,000 bond and will appear in Bristol Superior Court on October 27.