When will the IRS send your second stimulus check, and why does the Jan. 15 cutoff matter? - CNET

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Timing is critical in delivering a second stimulus check to over 100 million Americans.

Sarah Tew/CNET

By now, millions of people may have already received their second stimulus check, with tens of millions more getting their up to $600-per-person payments through direct deposit, physical checks in the mail and EIP cards. (Here's how to calculate how much stimulus money you could get). On the whole, the US government is moving much more swiftly to get your stimulus money delivered than with the first round, but there's a reason for that. 

The stimulus bill stipulates a Jan. 15 cutoff to send the second stimulus check, which leaves just a 17-day window from the first Dec. 29 delivery to process potentially over 100 million payments. When your second stimulus check specifically will arrive has a lot to do with the IRS' stratified payment groups -- and that could create a different situation for some.

We'll explain more about this cutoff and what happens if you don't receive your second stimulus check by then -- or even your first payment -- and how long you might have to wait to claim it. Here's how to track a paper stimulus check or EIP card to your mailbox, and here's what we know about a third stimulus check in 2021. This story updates often with the most recent available information.

Direct deposit payments started Dec. 29 and will continue

On Dec. 29, the IRS announced it started making its initial direct deposit payments to bank accounts, with payments continuing into next week. The IRS said eligible individuals do not need to take any action to receive this second payment and it will use the direct deposit information it has on file to make the payment. 

The IRS cautioned that some "may see the direct deposit payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before the official payment date of January 4, 2021."

At this point, you can't register a new direct deposit account with the IRS -- that could potentially change in the upcoming week, but we don't know for sure.

Second stimulus check timeline

	Dates for second check	Hypothetical dates for a third stimulus check
House passed final bill	Dec. 21	April 5
Senate passed final bill	Dec. 21	April 6
President signs	Dec. 27	April 7
First direct deposits issued	Dec. 29	Week of April 12
First paper checks sent	Dec. 30	Week of April 12
First EIP cards sent	Dec. 30	Week of April 12
Recovery Rebate Credit	After filing 2020 tax returns	Unknown

Paper stimulus checks, EIP cards are in the mail. They won't all come at once

If the IRS doesn't have your current direct deposit information on file, it will send the payment as a check or EIP debit card in the mail -- they began Dec. 30. Here's how you can track your second stimulus check to your mailbox, for free.

How to check the status of your new stimulus payment

The IRS said it is updating its Get My Payment tool for the second round of payments and anticipates those who qualify for a check will be able to see the status of both the first and second payments in a few days, after the portal is updated. The Get My Payment portal is available in English and Spanish.

Now playing: Watch this: Second stimulus checks: Everything you need to know

3:22

What's the story with prepaid EIP debit cards?

The IRS said that to speed delivery of the payments, it will send make some payments using an Economic Impact Payment prepaid debit card and notes that some people who received a paper check last time might receive a debit card this time, and some people who received a debit card last time may receive a paper check.

The IRS warns that those who are eligible but don't receive a direct deposit should watch their mail for a check or EIP debit card. The debit cards will arrive in a white envelope that displays the US Department of the Treasury seal, the IRS said.

Why is Jan. 15 such an important date to know?

Jan. 15 is the cutoff date in the $900 billion stimulus bill; after the middle of January, the IRS and US Treasury must stop sending payments. If you don't receive your full second stimulus check money by Jan. 15, you will need to claim all or part of the missing amount when you file your federal tax returns in 2021 through the Recovery Rebate Credit. You'll also be able to claim any money the IRS still owes you from the first round of payments.

People who receive their stimulus payment through direct deposit are less likely to be affected. But there is potentially a distinct disadvantage for people who don't have direct deposit set up with the IRS.

Tying the delivery of a second stimulus check to the 2020 tax return will almost certainly delay delivery for many people, since a wide variance in circumstances will cause some people to file taxes as early as January and others as late as April 15, or even later if they need to request an extension. It also isn't clear how quickly the IRS would process the payments.

The IRS said if Congress does approve raising the $600 check amount to $2,000 this week, it will issue the bonus amount "as quickly as possible."

In the chart below, we map out the payment schedule for the second round of checks, plus a projection if Congress approves a third stimulus check next year, after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.

How long could it take to get my second stimulus check through the mail?

Since the new stimulus bill sets a Jan. 15 deadline for the IRS to send out payments, people who will receive their second stimulus check in the mail -- either as a paper check or a prepaid debit card -- should look for a payment starting now through the first weeks of January, according to the IRS. According to the Treasury, 22% of the payments as of last summer were made by paper checks and another 3% by prepaid debit cards. 

However, after Jan. 15, you will have to claim any money the IRS owes you with your tax filing in 2021. That could further delay your stimulus check, since the timing would hinge on:

• When you file your 2020 taxes -- the deadline could be April 15, unless you file for an extension.
• How long it takes the IRS to process your tax return, which may also include your second stimulus check.
• If there are any complications that arise in your specific scenario that could further delay your check.

We'll keep our eye on the situation, which is constantly evolving. Here are the latest second stimulus check updates and here's how you can calculate your estimated total now for a $600 per person maximum.

The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 05:00PM
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/when-will-the-irs-send-your-second-stimulus-check-and-why-does-the-jan-15-cutoff-matter/

When will the IRS send your second stimulus check, and why does the Jan. 15 cutoff matter? - CNET

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Ohio State vs. Clemson score, Sugar Bowl: Justin Fields' six TDs send Buckeyes to CFP national title game - CBSSports.com

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Clemson coach Dabo Swinney might need to consider moving Ohio State into the top 10 of his Coaches Poll ballot next week after No. 3 Ohio State dominated No. 2 Clemson 49-28 in the 2021 Sugar Bowl semifinal behind a heroic performance from quarterback Justin Fields. The junior signal caller thrilled by completing 22 of 28 passes for 385 yards and a Sugar Bowl-record six touchdowns with more highlights than one could count as Ohio State advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Most of the damage came after Fields took a big hit to the ribs that left him in a lot of pain late in the first half. Clemson linebacker James Skalski lowered his head and hit Fields directly in the ribs. Skalski was ejected for targeting and Fields achingly walked off the field only to return one play later and continue his dominant play.

Fields and Ohio State torched the Clemson defense for 639 yards of offense. When it wasn't Fields launching bombs down the field, it was running back Trey Sermon grinding out yards on the ground. He finished with 191 yards rushing on 30 carries with a touchdown, adding 61 yards receiving on four catches. Wide receiver Chris Olave, who missed the Big Ten Championship Game, spent the night consistently getting massive separation behind the Ohio State secondary. He finished with six catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

The Ohio State defense chipped in by limiting the Clemson offense. After Clemson opened the game with 14 points and 167 yards of offense in the first quarter, the Buckeyes defense put the clamps down. The Tigers finished with 444 total yards and couldn't get anything going on the ground as star RB Travis Etienne totalled 32 yards and a short touchdown on 10 carries. 

Most notable was the play of Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence. The Heisman Trophy finalist completed 33 of 48 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns but was rattled the entire game. In addition to his fourth-quarter interception, Lawrence fumbled multiple times, lost one of them and was held to -8 yards rushing despite the Tigers purposely using him as a runner.

The win gives Ohio State its first victory over Clemson all-time after the Buckeyes lost each of the first four meetings, including in two previous College Football Playoff games. Ohio State now moves on to the CFP National Championship for the first time since 2014 when it won the national title . That 2014 season was also the last time Ohio State faced Alabama, whom it will meet in this year's title game.

2021 Sugar Bowl semifinal takeaway

1. Justin Fields is who we thought he was: Before the 2020 season began, all the talk was about Lawrence and Fields being the top two quarterbacks in the country, the two favorites to win the Heisman Trophy and the two best bets to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. And then 2020 happened. Lawrence came out and played like he always played, and even after contracting COVID-19 himself and missing a couple of games, he returned quickly to his magnificent form.

The season wasn't as easy for Fields. The Big Ten got off to a delayed start, and it allowed other QBs to take a bit of the spotlight. Alabama's Mac Jones put up huge numbers, Florida's Kyle Trask surpassed those and BYU's Zach Wilson put up video game numbers of his own. It felt as if Fields was behind the 8-ball from the start. He started the year well, but then the Buckeyes had a game canceled against Maryland due to COVID-19. They returned a week later against the best Indiana team in decades, and he struggled a bit, though the Buckeyes won.

Then, after another canceled game, he destroyed Michigan State despite missing a large chunk of his offensive line, but after a third game was canceled due to COVID-19, Fields struggled against Northwestern in the Big Ten title game. People were happy to ignore that Northwestern has one of the best defenses in the country and that Ohio State was missing several starters in the game, including its big-play threat in Olave.

Questions arose about whether or not Fields was as good as the hype and if he deserved to be the second QB taken in the NFL Draft. Well, Fields answered a lot of those questions against Clemson. To throw for 385 yards and a Sugar Bowl-record six touchdowns while dealing with a painful rib injury should silence a lot of the doubters. At least, it will for a while. There's still the Alabama game to get through.

2. Trey Sermon has made a massive difference: Sermon has been a godsend to the Buckeyes offense in recent weeks. The Ohio State offense struggled to find consistent footing in the ground game for much of the season unless Fields used his legs. Then Sermon exploded in the Big Ten Championship Game, rushing for a school-record 331 yards after rushing for only 344 yards in the first five games.

Sermon was just as big Friday night. He didn't set any records, but he did finish with 193 yards rushing and 61 yards receiving. The Ohio State offense was already difficult to stop, but now that defenses have to respect the ground game, it becomes a lot more complicated. Considering the offense that the Buckeyes will have to compete with against Alabama, it's critical that Ohio State can run the ball if it wants to beat the Tide.

3. If you take away Travis Etienne, Clemson becomes easier to beat: Speaking of running the ball, it's important for Clemson, too. Ohio State knew it. Etienne was held in check, finishing with only 32 yards on 10 carries. He also managed 64 yards through the air, but Ohio State eliminated the rushing threat and made Clemson's offense one-dimensional. That allowed a defensive front seven that had already been one of the best in the country at pressuring QBs to pin its ears back and go after Lawrence.

We also can't ignore the fact that, after rushing for 107 yards against the Buckeyes in last season's Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State made a point of not allowing history to repeat itself. If we remove yards lost due to sacks, Lawrence finished with only 11 yards rushing on eight carries.

4. Dabo is going to have some regrets: There's irony here. Swinney has spent most of his time in charge at Clemson talking about how his program is continuously disrespected and overlooked. Now, that hasn't been the case for a few years, but it's a gimmick that's worked well for Swinney and the Tigers. They've done well playing the underdog. And that's why I was confused about Swinney being so willing to talk about how he didn't think Ohio State deserved to be in the CFP. 

Even though I understood -- and largely agreed with -- his point that it's not fair the Buckeyes were chosen after playing six games while others were forced to play 11 or 12, I didn't understand the need to give them the bulletin board material ... over and over again ... all week long. I felt the same way about putting the Buckeyes at No. 11 on his Coaches Poll ballot even though the poll has no bearing on the playoff, and he knew it would be public record.

He put Clemson in the role of big, scary favorite and let Ohio State play the underdog role that nobody believes in. And it burnt him badly in New Orleans. It's not the reason Ohio State won the game, but it certainly didn't hurt.

5. Clemson has been here before: This isn't a takeaway as much as it's a remarkable stat. Fields threw for six touchdowns against Clemson on Friday night, marking the seventh time a QB has thrown for at least six touchdowns in a bowl game. It was the second time it happened to Clemson.

West Virginia's Geno Smith threw six touchdowns in a 70-33 win over the Tigers in the 2012 Orange Bowl. Swinney fired then-defensive coordinator Kevin Steele after the game. Steele is back on the market after finishing his stint as Auburn's interim coach, but something tells me Brent Venables has built up more than enough credit to survive a bad night.

The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 12:33PM
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ohio-state-vs-clemson-score-sugar-bowl-justin-fields-six-tds-send-buckeyes-to-cfp-national-title-game/live/

Ohio State vs. Clemson score, Sugar Bowl: Justin Fields' six TDs send Buckeyes to CFP national title game - CBSSports.com

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Prince William woman sues DMV, wants the agency to send 'better letters' - PotomacLocal.com

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A Prince William County woman is suing the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles after she says the agency failed to tell her the amount she needed to pay.

Theresa Manning, of Brentsville, received a letter in the mail from the DMV on April 29, 2020, telling her that the agency was aware that she was no longer insured and that she needed to pay the state’s uninsured motorist fee, according to court documents on file at the Prince William County Judicial Center. That letter didn’t state the amount of the fee, court documents state.

When registering a vehicle, if the owner certifies that the vehicle is uninsured, the owner is required to pay a $500 uninsured motor vehicle fee in addition to normal registration fees, according to Virginia DMV spokeswoman Jessica Cowardin.

State law requires all vehicle owners to have motor vehicle liability insurance or enough money to pay for any losses that may result from an automobile accident. If liability insurance coverage on a vehicle lapses and is not renewed, or is terminated during the registration period, the owner must reinsure the vehicle, or pay the uninsured motor vehicle fee, or temporarily deactivate their license plates, or permanently surrender the license plates, Cowardin continues.

After receiving the letter on April 29, court documents show Manning called DMV headquarters in Richmond to get the amount she needed to pay. However, there was “heavy phone call volume” brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and Manning didn’t want to hold the line, court documents state.

She went online to try to obtain the fee amount but came up short, court documents state. On May 12, she wrote a letter asking for the fee amount and sent it to the DMV in Richmond, court documents show.

She never got a response. At least, until May 28, when Manning received a notice from the DMV telling her that her registration had been suspended, court documents state.

According to court documents, she appealed the decision and asked for a hearing before DMV Commission Richard Holcomb, which was granted on September 9. During the hearing, DMV officials told her they had never received her May 12 letter.

In the legal filing, Manning alleges the DMV had already made up its mind about her case before the hearing began. Manning claims the DMV told her the proceeding was simply a formality, court documents show.

During an appeal of Manning’s case on November 10, Commissioner Holcomb upheld the decision to suspend Manning’s registration, court documents state. The DMV told her sending a letter to its office and “requesting an invoice was not an option,” and that Manning should have known about the uninsured motorist fee after a previous suspension order was sent to her home in 2016, the legal filing states.

Manning and the DMV declined to specific questions about the case. In a brief email, Manning told PLN, “let’s hope the DMV writes better letters in the future and holds better hearings.” 

Manning also wants her suspension revoked. All fees associated with this matter are canceled. She wants all future correspondence to DMV customers to list the fees they are supposed to pay, so they don’t need to call or search online for the information, the court filing states.

The lawsuit was filed on December 10. It describes Manning’s vehicle simply as a Dodge.

A hearing date has not yet been set for this case.

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The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 11:10AM
https://potomaclocal.com/2021/01/01/prince-william-woman-sues-dmv-wants-the-agency-to-send-better-letters/

Prince William woman sues DMV, wants the agency to send 'better letters' - PotomacLocal.com

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Bremerton's USS Nimitz, only aircraft carrier in Middle East, sent home amid Iran tensions - KING5.com

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Sending the USS Nimitz home to the U.S. West Coast would seem at odds with the idea that a show of force is needed to deter Iran.

WASHINGTON — The video above is from May 2019 when the USS Nimitz returned to its home port of Bremerton, Wash.

The Pentagon has decided to send home the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that will reduce American firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran.

The decision, announced Thursday by the acting secretary of defense, Christopher Miller, came one day after Air Force B-52 bombers flew nonstop from the United States to the Persian Gulf in a show of force that military officials said was intended to caution Iran against carrying out attacks against U.S. forces or interests.

Sending the aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, home to the U.S. West Coast would seem at odds with the idea that a show of force is needed to deter Iran. This might reflect a split within the defense establishment on whether Iran poses a heightened threat to strike in the waning days of the Trump administration.

In announcing the decision to send the Nimitz home, Miller made no mention of Iran.

Earlier this week, an American military officer close to the situation told reporters that the U.S. had detected signs that Iran had made preparations for possible attacks on U.S. or allied targets in Iraq or elsewhere in the Mideast. This was the reason for dispatching two B-52 bombers from the U.S. to briefly overfly the Gulf on Wednesday, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments.

President Donald Trump recently cited “chatter” that Iran might strike. Days after a Dec. 20 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iranian-supported Shiite militia groups, Trump tweeted that Iran was on notice.

“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,” Trump wrote on Dec. 23. He added, ”We hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq.”

U.S. concerns have been tied to the approach of the Jan. 3 anniversary of the American airstrike that killed Iran's top commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran initially retaliated with a ballistic missile strike on a military base in neighboring Iraq that caused dozens of brain concussion injuries but no deaths among U.S. troops. But U.S. officials are concerned that Iran might be planning further retaliation.

RELATED: Trump warns Iran following rocket attacks on US Embassy in Baghdad

RELATED: Year in Review: Political news that made headlines in 2020

Because of the potential for escalation that could lead to a wider war, the U.S. has sought to deter Iran from additional attacks. Strategic calculations on both sides are further complicated by the political transition in Washington to a Biden administration that may seek new paths to dealing with Iran. President-elect Joe Biden has said, for example, that he hopes to return the U.S. to a 2015 agreement with world powers in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

The U.S. has maintained a near-continuous aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf region since the USS Abraham Lincoln was sent in May 2019 amid concerns that Iran was considering attacking U.S. interests in the region. The U.S. also sent additional land-based attack planes and reestablished a troop presence in Saudi Arabia.

The Nimitz deployed from the U.S. in April and was due to return before the end of the year. In early December, its planned return was postponed, in part out of concerns about potential Iranian threats, and more recently it was ordered to provide support off the coast of Somalia for the movement of American forces out of the country.

The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 10:21AM
https://www.king5.com/article/news/nation-world/uss-nimitz-recalled-from-middle-east/507-d5b2f1c7-d2c4-4d73-af46-94cd6297594e

Bremerton's USS Nimitz, only aircraft carrier in Middle East, sent home amid Iran tensions - KING5.com

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COVID-19: Army Corps of Engineers sent to help L.A. hospitals - Los Angeles Times

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It was the first day of a fresh year, and yet, across much of California, the numbing realities we had longed to put behind us — hospitals at capacity, mounting death tolls, and massive, maskless gatherings — have followed us into 2021.

On Friday, the number of Californians who have died from complications of COVID-19 passed 26,000 — roughly the same number of Californians who, in a recent year, died of complications of the flu, diabetes, hypertension and liver disease combined.

In L.A. County, where hospitals have gotten so backed up that patients have had to wait outside in ambulances for up to eight hours, hope for some respite finally arrived Friday: The Army Corps of Engineers was planning to send specialized crews to the region to update oxygen-delivery systems at a handful of aging hospitals.

Days earlier, several hospitals declared internal disasters and temporarily turned away all ambulance traffic because their internal oxygen systems began to buckle beneath the high demand of air flow needed by patients whose lungs had been ravaged by the coronavirus.

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As emergency rooms and intensive care units across the county remain overwhelmed by patients with the respiratory disease, hospitals continue to buckle under the dangerous ripple effects that have impacted nearly all aspects of medical care.

With 700 nurses from primary care clinics diverted to hospitals and other critical needs, county officials have been forced to temporarily shut five public primary care clinics across the county and reduce hours at most of the others, which provide children with immunizations and where people with chronic diseases have their medications managed.

“We have kept a skeleton crew to continue to work in our outpatient clinics,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, the L.A. County director of health services. “But overall, our capacity for outpatient services is much less than it is in routine times.”

This means that patients with chronic illnesses will be at greater risk of needing to go to the emergency room if they become more seriously ill because of the lack of outpatient care.

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And it means, too, that hundreds of procedures and surgeries have been put on pause.

For Matt Howard — a 44-year-old high school teacher who was scheduled to have kidney transplant surgery at Cedars-Sinai on Jan. 15 — it meant receiving a disappointing phone call on a recent afternoon.

“We’re sorry,” the voice on the other line said. “There are no ICU beds available, so we have to postpone the surgery.”

When he told his wife, she broke down in sobs. His two daughters, 20 and 22, were devastated as well. But Howard, who lives in Lakewood, said he takes some comfort in knowing that his donor — his older sister — isn’t going anywhere. It would have been a much worse situation, he said, if he’d been scheduled to receive a new kidney from a recently deceased donor.

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Hospitals are doing the best they can in impossible circumstances, he said, and he places no blame on them for the cancellation. Still, he said, he’s eager for the transplant. The last time he had his kidneys checked, doctors told him they were functioning at 3%, said Howard, who undergoes nine-hour dialysis treatments at home every night.

“It’s a waiting game,” he said, noting that he doesn’t yet have a new surgery date scheduled.

The situation at many medical facilities across the Southland remains dire.

Paramedics now regularly decide not to transport lower-risk patients to overcrowded hospitals, hoping to free up space for those most in need, which has forced people who might otherwise go to the emergency room to look elsewhere for care.

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Hospitals are scrambling to find sufficient staff and, at times, emergency medical technicians have been called into work at hospitals. Meanwhile, older hospitals are being reconfigured to house far more patients than they ever anticipated holding, leading to the oxygen issues.

Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County health services director, said that the demand is so great for a high flow of oxygen and the buildings pipes are so old, they can’t maintain sufficient pressure and, at times, started to freeze. In a scramble, Ghaly said, some hospitals were forced to move patients to lower floors, because it’s easier to deliver oxygen there without needing pressure to push it up to higher floors.

Another oxygen-related problem — the chronic shortage of portable tanks — has also hampered hospitals abilities in recent days, county officials said. To discharge recovering patients as quickly as possible and free up space for other, sicker patients, hospitals often send patients home with oxygen tanks.

The team of design and construction experts from the Corps will evaluate six hospitals — Adventist Health White Memorial in Boyle Heights, Beverly Community Hospital in Montebello, Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina, Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City and PIH Health Hospital in Downey — and then oversee upgrades where they’re deemed necessary.

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Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said in a statement that the upgrades will “improve the ability to deliver life sustaining medical care to those who need it.”

The assessments are scheduled to begin as soon as Saturday, state officials said.

The basic problem is that patients, suffocating from their inflamed lungs, are demanding such a high flow of oxygen to the extent that some hospitals cannot meet the demand with existing infrastructure.

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“Running low of oxygen and oxygen tanks is an issue,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency.

And L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said she expects these trends to continue for several weeks.

“We’re experiencing extreme conditions in L.A. County,” she said. “Our hospitals continue to be overwhelmed. As more and more people are rushed to hospitals, the tragic fact is that hundreds more people will die every week from COVID-19. These trends, unfortunately, will continue into January.”

And yet, there was one small bit of hopeful news released on New Year’s Day. For the first time in 50 days, the net number of people hospitalized in L.A. County for COVID-19 decreased — although only by one. Still, it broke the 32-day consecutive daily streak of record-breaking COVID-19 hospitalizations in L.A. County.

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On New Year’s Eve, there were 7,627 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in L.A. County, down from 7,628 the day before, according to data released Friday.

The slower increase in daily patients is a sign that the stay-at-home order in place in Southern California for nearly four weeks is having an impact.

“There’s no question in my mind that had we not had the stay-at-home order, the situation would be far more dire than it is now,” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, who described the current situation as a “viral tsunami.”

“However, I think the magnitude of the numbers show that in the face of the stay-at-home order, many people are choosing to ignore it,” he said, adding that any slight easing in new hospitalizations will likely be reversed soon because of how many people traveled during Christmas and New Year’s.

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For Howard, the teacher awaiting a transplant, it is deeply frustrating to see people refusing to wear masks or going out to New Year’s Eve parties.

“It’s disappointing,” he said.

When Howard was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy four years ago, his kidney function was at 30%. When it dropped below 10% last year, he started doing dialysis via a catheter in his stomach lining. Even with the treatments, he said, he constantly feels exhausted.

A high school football coach, he said he yearns to return to the level of energy and drive he once felt. He dreams about riding his bike to work again and, when the pandemic is behind us, one day traveling with his wife.

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For his sister, Gail Houseweart, a labor-and-delivery nurse in Colorado, news of the delayed surgery was heartbreaking.

After scores of blood tests — involving 33 vials in all, she recalls — and undergoing a full day of tests, including a mammogram and a chest X-ray, she finally got the green light about a month ago: She was a match, and they were all set. She was elated. When people told her she was a hero, she responded that, no, in fact, she felt selfish. She needed her little brother.

“I want him around for me and his kids and his wife,” she said.

She bought a plane ticket to Los Angeles and booked an Airbnb for after the procedure, but then she got the call about the cancellation. She went it a funk for a couple of weeks, she said, but she is trying to focus on the future.

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“2021 is our year,” she says, pausing. “I guess, I hope.”

The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 05:46AM
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-01/army-corps-of-engineers-to-assess-and-upgrade-oxygen-flow-problems-at-several-l-a-county-hospitals

COVID-19: Army Corps of Engineers sent to help L.A. hospitals - Los Angeles Times

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Britain to send a space spider to the Moon - Telegraph.co.uk

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Britain is to launch a robotic ‘space spider’ to the Moon in 2021, the first time a walking rover has been sent to explore a distant world.

The little probe - called Asagumo - has been designed by London-based robotics experts Spacebit, and is scheduled to hitch a ride to the lunar surface with Nasa next summer.

It will mark the first time a British rover has gone to the Moon, and engineers at Spacebit chose legs instead of wheels so that it can pick its way over bumpy terrain, and crawl through underground lava tubes to see if they could be habitable for humans. 

Many experts now believe that lava tubes - tunnel-like chambers in the rock created by rivers of lava billions of years ago - could provide natural shelters and so are a good place to set up the first colonies. 

The Moon is a treacherous environment for astronauts, because temperatures can drop to  below -274F (-170C) during the lunar night, and the surface is bombarded by solar radiation and micro-meteorites.

Although the largest lava tubes on Earth only reach around 60ft wide, on the Moon they can be hundreds of feet wide and could be sealed to contain breathable air. 

The rocky roof also provides a ready-made shield against harmful radiation and the temperature inside falls to just -4F to -22 (-20C to -30C), so the tubes could be heated to a comfortable level.

One tube, discovered in the Marius Hills region is at least 1,000 yards wide and tall, and could house small cities. There may be a large underground network, from when volcanic activity was rife on the Moon.

Spacebit CEO Pavlo Tanasyuk said designing a rover with legs was crucial to finding out if lava tubes are useful for habitation.

Robotic rover Asagumo  

“There are plans to return to the Moon in the  future and we will have to live somewhere, and one option might be to seal the entrance of the larva tube and use that as a shelter,” he said.

“We believe this rover will play a role in exploring that possibility. It will be walking across the Moon not driving, so it can go on rugged terrain and explore those parts you can’t get to normally,” he said.

“If you want to go long distances you take the car, but if you want to climb something, you use your legs, so it’s more suited to that kind of exploration.”

Designing a rover that can walk on the Moon is difficult because the surface is covered in a thick dusty layer known as regolith which spindly legs could sink into. The dust is also bad for clogging up working parts, as the Apollo astronauts discovered. 

Asagumo is just 3.9 inches tall (10cm) so it needs to be able to glide over the surface otherwise it would sink. To solve the problem, the probe has four spindly legs with a flat pad at the bottom, like ski poles.

It will also carry instruments capable of measuring radiation and on future missions may be able to prospect for precious metals and minerals. It will also be the first rover to be connected to the lander by wifi so cannot stray too far from its original drop off point. 

If it does lose connection it has in-built drone technology to attempt to fly back to the lander but without GPS the team would be flying blind.

But at a launch cost of just £3 million the rover could be attractive for companies looking for places to mind valuable resources. 

Pavlo Tanasyuk and Asagumo Credit: Shutterstock

Mr Tanasyuk said: “We’re hoping to find some lava tubes near the landing site because we can’t travel too far away because of the wifi limitation and we only have very basic artificial intelligence on board.

“First of all it’s a technology demonstrator mission and that would be the most important and the ability to transfer images and take basic measurements, but obviously we would try to do our best and explore as many areas as possible and maybe we can find something interesting.

“There are many scientific uses for the rover because you can get information about the environment and we can explore and find out where to mine on the Moon in future.”

The first rover is due to launch around late summer next year, onboard the first of Nasa’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions which are being sent in advance of Artemis - the US mission to return humans to the Moon. 

The target landing site is Vallis Schröteri (Schröter's Valley) in the Moon’s Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) which is flat, free of craters and rocks, and has abundant sunlight. 

Spacebit is also hoping to send up a second wheeled rover at the end of 2021. In future missions the walking robot may ride on the wheeled rover until the terrain becomes too difficult then be deployed to carry on alone.

And if successful it could travel further afield, to explore more far flung worlds, such as Mars or other moons.

The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 04:30AM
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/01/britain-send-space-spider-moon/

Britain to send a space spider to the Moon - Telegraph.co.uk

https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Central Florida organization celebrates 10 years of sending care packages to soldiers - WESH 2 Orlando

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Just Our Soldiers’ Helpers, also known as JOSH, just reached a milestone. The organization has been sending care packages to deployed service members for 10 years.“When they're able to send pictures, you can see the smiles on their faces,” Scott Ariotti said.Kathy Hewitt founded Just Our Soldiers’ Helpers after sending packages to her nephew Josh, then expanding to others in his unit.“They absolutely adore the packages that we send them, because they're chock-full of the stuff that they want and are looking for,” Ariotti said.Board member Scott Ariotti says service members in combat zones can register on the JOSH website and request items for both the food packages and the personal hygiene.If they can get mail where they're deployed, they get a package at least once a month.JOSH had their 2020 fundraiser just before the pandemic slammed the brakes on gatherings. Boxes are still going out, but not as many as earlier in the year.“We're going to keep going as long as funding allows, and that's been Kathy's motto, we'll scale the packages that we send out every month, based on the funding that we have,” Ariotti said.Thanks to a supporter, the organization now has a Longwood office. It was storage units and the founders living room for years.“Her living room was a maze of boxes and zip top bags, during the lead ups to a monthly packing event,” Ariotti said.Head here to learn more about JOSH.

LONGWOOD, Fla. —

Just Our Soldiers’ Helpers, also known as JOSH, just reached a milestone. The organization has been sending care packages to deployed service members for 10 years.

“When they're able to send pictures, you can see the smiles on their faces,” Scott Ariotti said.

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Kathy Hewitt founded Just Our Soldiers’ Helpers after sending packages to her nephew Josh, then expanding to others in his unit.

“They absolutely adore the packages that we send them, because they're chock-full of the stuff that they want and are looking for,” Ariotti said.

Board member Scott Ariotti says service members in combat zones can register on the JOSH website and request items for both the food packages and the personal hygiene.

If they can get mail where they're deployed, they get a package at least once a month.

JOSH had their 2020 fundraiser just before the pandemic slammed the brakes on gatherings. Boxes are still going out, but not as many as earlier in the year.

“We're going to keep going as long as funding allows, and that's been Kathy's motto, we'll scale the packages that we send out every month, based on the funding that we have,” Ariotti said.

Thanks to a supporter, the organization now has a Longwood office. It was storage units and the founders living room for years.

“Her living room was a maze of boxes and zip top bags, during the lead ups to a monthly packing event,” Ariotti said.

Head here to learn more about JOSH.

The Link Lonk


January 02, 2021 at 06:34AM
https://www.wesh.com/article/just-our-soldiers-helpers/35108857

Central Florida organization celebrates 10 years of sending care packages to soldiers - WESH 2 Orlando

https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en