BY MELISSA GOLDIN Social media users are misrepresenting a Vermont Supreme Court ruling , claiming that it gives schools permission to vaccinate children even if their parents do not consent. The ruling addressed a lawsuit filed by Dario and Shujen Politella against Windham Southeast School District and state officials over the mistaken vaccination of their child against COVID-19 in 2021, when he was 6 years old. A lower court had dismissed the original complaint, as well as an amended version. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was filed on Nov. 19. But the ruling by Vermont’s high court is not as far-reaching as some online have claimed. In reality, it concluded that anyone protected under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, or PREP, Act is immune to state lawsuits. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that schools can vaccinate children against their parents’ wishes. THE FACTS: The claim stems from a July 26 ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court, which found that anyone protected by the PREP Act is immune to state lawsuits, including the officials named in the Politella’s suit. The ruling does not authorize schools to vaccinate children at their discretion. According to the lawsuit, the Politella’s son — referred to as L.P. — was given one dose of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic held at Academy School in Brattleboro even though his father, Dario, told the school’s assistant principal a few days before that his son was not to receive a vaccination. In what officials described as a mistake, L.P. was removed from class and had a “handwritten label” put on his shirt with the name and date of birth of another student, L.K., who had already been vaccinated that day. L.P. was then vaccinated. Ultimately, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that officials involved in the case could not be sued. “We conclude that the PREP Act immunizes every defendant in this case and this fact alone is enough to dismiss the case,” the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling reads. “We conclude that when the federal PREP Act immunizes a defendant, the PREP Act bars all state-law claims against that defendant as a matter of law.” The PREP Act , enacted by Congress in 2005, authorizes the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a declaration in the event of a public health emergency providing immunity from liability for activities related to medical countermeasures, such as the administration of a vaccine, except in cases of “willful misconduct” that result in “death or serious physical injury.” A declaration against COVID-19 was issued on March 17, 2020. It is set to expire on Dec. 31. Federals suits claiming willful misconduct are filed in Washington. Social media users described the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling as having consequences beyond what it actually says. “The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that schools can force-vaccinate children for Covid against the wishes of their parents,” reads one X post that had been liked and shared approximately 16,600 times as of Tuesday. “The high court ruled on a case involving a 6-year-old boy who was forced to take a Covid mRNA injection by his school. However, his family had explicitly stated that they didn’t want their child to receive the ‘vaccines.’” Other users alleged that the ruling gives schools permission to give students any vaccine without parental consent, not just ones for COVID-19. Rod Smolla, president of the Vermont Law and Graduate School and an expert on constitutional law, told The Associated Press that the ruling “merely holds that the federal statute at issue, the PREP Act, preempts state lawsuits in cases in which officials mistakenly administer a vaccination without consent.” “Nothing in the Vermont Supreme Court opinion states that school officials can vaccinate a child against the instructions of the parent,” he wrote in an email. Related Articles National News | Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers’ subpoenas over Trump case National News | Are you a former SmileDirectClub customer? You might be eligible for a refund National News | Justice Department announces sweeping reforms to curb suicides in federal prisons and jails National News | Defense makes closing argument in murder trial of Cash App founder Bob Lee National News | A judge has once again rejected Musk’s multi-billion-dollar Tesla pay package. Now what? Asked whether the claims spreading online have any merit, Ronald Ferrara, an attorney representing the Politellas, told the AP that although the ruling doesn’t say schools can vaccinate students regardless of parental consent, officials could interpret it to mean that they could get away with doing so under the PREP Act, at least when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. He explained that the U.S. Supreme Court appeal seeks to clarify whether the Vermont Supreme Court interpreted the PREP Act beyond what Congress intended. “The Politella’s fundamental liberty interest to decide whether their son should receive elective medical treatment was denied by agents of the State and School,” he wrote in an email to the AP. “The Vermont Court misconstrues the scope of PREP Act immunity (which is conditioned upon informed consent for medical treatments unapproved by FDA), to cover this denial of rights and its underlying battery.” Ferrara added that he was not aware of the claims spreading online, but that he “can understand how lay people may conflate the court’s mistaken grant of immunity for misconduct as tantamount to blessing such misconduct.”

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Maybe 15 minutes before the Wild hosted and defeated the Nashville Predators on Saturday, general manager Bill Guerin took a few minutes to talk to the media about his first noteworthy acquisition of the season—the trade with Columbus, which will bring David Jiricek to the State of Hockey in the first few days of December. ADVERTISEMENT Maybe it’s just the pessimistic nature of a fanbase that hasn’t seen a men’s professional team play for a championship in more than three decades, but the grumbling had begun even before the collected media had reached the press box for Saturday’s game. “Seems like a lot to pay for a minor-leaguer,” was one of the comments overheard at the rink on Saturday. Indeed, to get Jiricek – the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft – and a lower-round pick, Guerin surrendered defenseman Daemon Hunt and four draft picks, including Minnesota’s 2025 first-rounder and a second round pick in 2027. He wasted no time in getting an up-close look at the new guy, calling Jiricek up to the NHL level on Sunday, and sending former Gophers forward Travis Boyd back down to Iowa. Guerin and Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell are old friends from their time working together with the Pittsburgh Penguins. But there was no discount offered from Waddell to his old pal in Minnesota. “It took awhile. Donny,” Guerin said with an exasperated grin. “He played with me. He’s one of my old mentors. He made me work for it. He’s the best.” ADVERTISEMENT Still, Guerin would not have pulled the trigger had he not believed in two things: 1) The Wild can turn all of Jiricek’s size (6-foot-4) and potential into another piece of their bright future on the blue line. 2) The price they paid was not as steep as it might look on the surface. To that second point, consider that Hunt was not really part of the Wild’s NHL-level defensive picture, even at a time like this when Jonas Brodin’s long-term viability is a serious question mark. And after getting two points with an overtime win over the Predators on Saturday, the Wild were tied for the most points in the NHL, meaning that at this pace, that 2025 first-round draft pick is going to come in the 25th spot or later. If the Wild go into a tailspin this season, the pick sent to Columbus is lottery protected, meaning the Blue Jackets will not get to pick in the top 10 at the Wild’s expense. ADVERTISEMENT To the first point, Jiricek is a player Guerin and his assistants have had their eye on for some time, even before he was named the top defenseman in the tournament while playing for Czechia in the 2023 World Juniors. “He’s not 30, he’s not a rental. He’s a 21-year-old defenseman that we can invest in. And we did. That’s how I look at it. It’s an investment,” Guerin said. In 2022, the Wild grabbed Liam Ohgren with the 19th overall pick, more than a dozen selections after Jiricek was picked by Columbus and was posing for pictures in a new red-white-and-blue sweater. ADVERTISEMENT “He was somebody that we really liked (during) his draft year. We knew we weren’t going to get him, but we liked him,” Guerin said. “And, you know, when this became available, I did my due diligence and asked our staff what they thought. They were all on board with it. So it’s good.” Perhaps in hopes of getting the fans on board, Guerin also stressed patience. Jiricek has not yet been a star in the NHL, despite his high draft stock. But the Wild are confident that their system of developing players — especially defensemen — is the change the new guy needs. “He’s a young player. He’s got a lot to learn. He’s going to continue to improve, just like all young players,” Guerin said, name-dropping two youthful every-night members of the Wild roster who still have ample room to grow. “Brock Faber’s got to get better. Matt Boldy’s still going to get better. All these guys are going to continue to improve because they’re so young. So just because they’re in the NHL doesn’t mean they’re not going to develop their game and get better. That’s our job as the coaches, management. That’s our job to help him get better.” If he has to spend some future draft capital to put those pieces in place, that is clearly a chance Guerin is willing to take. ADVERTISEMENT ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .

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12 Health Care Stocks Moving In Tuesday's Pre-Market SessionPodeli : Belgrade University deans expressed strong support for the protesting students and condemned attacks and threats on the academic community. Students have been blockading several colleges for days, demanding accountability for the deaths of 15 people in the fall of a canopy roof at Novi Sad Railway Station and other things. “The University of Belgrade strongly supports students in their initial demands as self-aware, academic citizens, particularly highlighting our students’ readiness to respond to events of public and social significance,” a statement said after a meeting of the Extended Rector’s Collegium. It noted that the students clearly expressed concern for the state of society. “The University stands in defense of students and colleagues who are confronted with unacceptable media insults, physical attacks, and threats, as well as inadmissible rhetoric directed at the academic community. We condemn any actions by those who violently provoke reactions from students, collaborators, and teachers, while simultaneously strongly supporting the manner in which the integrity of the academic community is preserved,” it added. “We publicly appeal to all political players and the media to refrain from using student gatherings to achieve their goals, to respect the autonomy of the University, and the right of students to express their views,” the statement said. It said that students will not be punished for protesting, preserving the integrity of the academic community, their critical thinking and their actions as a vital part of society. “We expect students not to interfere with the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Rectorate and all members of the University,” it added. The statement demanded urgent action by the authorities to meet the students’ initial requests.

For more than a decade, the United States has sought to keep out of Syria’s political debacle, seeing no viable partner. Islamist rebels’ toppling of strongman Bashar al-Assad has forced a change of tune — and a debate over just what US interests are. Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in little more than a month, on the eve of Assad’s fall called Syria “a mess” and stated in his plain-speaking style that the United States should not be involved. Joe Biden’s administration, after putting Syria on the backburner in a turbulent region, has offered a tacit rebuttal by stating that clear US interests are at stake — including preventing Syria from fragmenting and avoiding a resurgence of the Islamic State extremist group. Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump’s and Biden’s statements could be combined and “together they make a kind of decent policy.” The United States needs to address real concerns about the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda but “as far as getting involved in arranging the politics of Syria, I think that no good can come from it,” Cook said. Since the presidency of Barack Obama, the United States has walked a fine line on Syria that critics often derided as a non-policy. The United States questioned the legitimacy of Assad, demanding accountability for brutality in one of the 21st century’s deadliest wars, but stopped short of prioritizing his departure due to suspicions about the main rebels. The Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has now led Assad’s ouster, traces its roots to Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. Since Obama’s time, the United States instead has allied itself in Syria with a smaller fighting force of the Kurdish minority — over strenuous objections of neighboring Turkey, which backs HTS — with a narrow mission to counter the Islamic State group. Some 900 US troops remain in Syria. Assad fell in a lighting surprise offensive as his protector Russia is bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine and after Israel’s military heavily degraded Assad’s other key supporters — Iran and Lebanese militia Hezbollah. – How to deal with Islamists? – Robert Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria, helped spearhead the terrorist designation of HTS in 2012 but said that the group since then has not attacked US or Western targets and has instead fought Al-Qaeda and Islamic State forces. Ford also pointed with hope to post-victory statements by rebel chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, including welcoming international monitoring of any chemical weapons that are discovered. “Can you imagine Osama bin Laden saying that?” said Ford, now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “I’m not saying ‘trust Jolani.’ He’s obviously authoritarian. He’s obviously an Islamist who doesn’t believe that Christians have an equal right to power as Muslims. But I sure as hell want to test him on some of these things,” Ford said. He said that the United States should encourage HTS, as well as other Syrian actors, to reach out and reassure the country’s diverse communities including Christians, Kurds and Alawites — the sect of the secular-oriented Assad. Beyond that, Washington should take a back-seat and let Syrians sort out their future, he said. “We should learn from the experience in Iraq that trying to impose exiles on a population traumatized by a brutal dictatorship and war is not a recipe for success,” Ford said. Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday offered US recognition to a future government that is “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian.” – Weighing terrorist label – Trump in his first term, at the urging of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, abruptly said he would pull troops out of Syria. He backtracked after intense criticism at home and appeals from French President Emmanuel Macron, who pointed to the risk of Islamic State filling the vacuum. Trump has not indicated how he would change Syria policy this time. But he has shown no reluctance in the past to negotiate with foreign adversaries on the US blacklist, from Afghanistan’s Taliban to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said there was no legal restriction on US contact with designated terrorists, although he indicated there was no direct dialogue with HTS. Natasha Hall, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Syria could face “devastating economic and humanitarian consequences” unless the United States reconsiders the terrorist designation of HTS, which impedes aid groups. “That said,” she said, “if there isn’t sort of an established framework for negotiations and good behavior now, before that designation is lifted, that could potentially also be a major mistake down the line for Syria’s future.” With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

Assad exit puts US at perilous crossroads in SyriaThe European Space Agency is preparing to launch two missions on Wednesday, half a world and half a day apart: Proba-3 from India and Sentinel-1C from French Guiana. Because ESA and the European aerospace industry are still working towards restoring home-grown launch capability and rebuilding the continent’s position in the commercial launch market, it will rely upon the Indian Space Research Organization for the first mission: Proba-3. Meanwhile the Sentinel-1C Earth-observing satellite will launch on the first European-made Vega-C rocket since a failure in December 2022. The pair of spacecraft making up the Proba-3 mission are scheduled to launch onboard a PSLV-XL (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 4:08 p.m. IST (5:38 a.m. EST, 1038 UTC). ISRO will host a launch broadcast beginning roughly 30 minutes prior to liftoff.  With a total payload weight of 550 kg (1213 lb), ESA said the mission’s highly elliptical orbit would be “above the Vega-C capacity and Ariane 6 would be too costly.” The Proba-3 mission consists of a 340 kg (750 lb) coronagraph spacecraft and a 200 kg (441 lb) occulter spacecraft. The pair will separate from the rocket’s fourth stage, still linked together, about 18 minutes into the mission. Ground controllers expect to establish a signal with the two spacecraft about 25 minutes later. The two spacecraft will separate from each another in early 2025 to begin the commissioning phase of the mission. Researchers expect to acquire the first images of the Sun’s corona around March 2025, but it could take longer. The roughly 200 million euro mission is designed to last about two years in duration after which the craft will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere to prevent the spacecraft from becoming orbital debris. Despite the name, Proba-3 is actually the fourth in the Proba series of in-orbit demonstration (IOD) missions from ESA. The agency said these missions are designed “for demonstrating and validating new technologies and concepts in orbit” designed by using “small satellites, embarking payload and instruments to deliver actual data to users to demonstrate a new capability.” Proba-1 and Proba-V (V for vegetation) launched in 2001 and 2012 respectively and were designed for Earth observation, while Proba-2 launched in 2009 to study the Sun. Proba-3 picks up the work of solar observations by using a binary spacecraft system to study the Sun’s corona by creating a localized total solar eclipse. Normally, a total solar eclipse observed on Earth creates at most about 10 minutes of quality observation time and happens only about an average of 1.5 times per year. But the pair of spacecraft, working in tandem, will be able to establish eclipse conditions that create about six hours of observational time, 50 times per year. In order to accomplish this, the two spacecraft will need to fly about 150 m (492 ft) apart. The occulter spacecraft needs to line up with the coronagraph spacecraft with an accuracy of about one millimeter, which is roughly the thickness of a human fingernail, according to ESA. During a prelaunch media briefing on Nov. 28, Proba Project Manager Damien Galano, who joined the project back in 2014, said ESA never attempted precision flying at this level before. “The occulter spacecraft accommodates a circular occulting disk of 1.4 meters in diameter. This disk will cast a shadow and the other spacecraft, the coronagraph spacecraft, embarks (the) telescope, and this spacecraft must be positioned precisely such that the telescope is in the center of the shadow cast by the occulter,” Galano said. “In a nutshell, it’s an experiment in space to demonstrate a new concept, a new technology that is technically challenging... and to achieve this, we had to develop many special technologies and equipment specifically for the mission.” The Proba-3 spacecraft will fly in a high elliptical Earth orbit with an orbital period of 19.7 hours. Mission managers decided to not fly in formation the full time in order to maximize the amount of fuel on board the spacecraft. During the majority of the orbit, the satellites will follow a natural orbital path, but going into their apogee, which is around 60,000 km (37,282 mi), they will spend six hours in formation. More than 40 companies contributed to the Proba-3 mission, with Sener acting as the system prime. The Belgium office of Redwire Space, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, provided avionics; satellite assembly and testing; and satellite operations. In a video interview recorded at Redwire’s satellite assembly clean room, Marie Beekman, ESA’s Proba-3 Operations Engineer, described some of the challenges of testing the pair of spacecraft. “The satellites will be flying at 150 meters from each other in space and obviously in this room we cannot do that. We can never really test what is going to happen out there because we have this distance between the two of them,” Beekman said. “So in order for the laser, for the one laser that’s coming from one spacecraft to reach the other one, we had to use mirrors to reflect the laser beam and make it look like, it was actually 150 meters distance. Then we see if the sensors are correctly seeing the movement of the satellites. In a separate interview, Ruwan Ernst, the Proba-3 Satellite System Engineer from Redwire, said that experience developing Proba-3 will enable important capabilities for future missions. “This mission will enable a ton of other missions. For example, you have to think that this coronagraphy can be done for discovering exoplanets. Now we have a situation where suns in other solar systems are obscuring planets orbiting them because they have too bright of light that cannot be blocked out by the cameras we have here on Earth. So, we simply cannot see the planets orbiting them,” Ernst said. “So, imaging you have an [occulter] blocking that far away star’s light and a coronagraph filming in that direction, suddenly these planets become visible.” He said another potential application could be creating a collection of small spacecraft that communicate using radio waves to form a virtual telescope. “This is called astronomical interferometry, where you combine several radio signals into an artificial mix radio signal, which allows for high-resolution imaging,” Ernst said. He argued that this would not only be more cost-effective than launching a large spacecraft that would need to deploy a large array, but it would also cut down on mission risk, since the loss of one satellite wouldn’t necessarily result in the mission being compromised.GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Tai'Reon Joseph scored 28 points off the bench to lead UTSA over North Dakota 95-85 on Sunday. Joseph shot 8 of 11 from the field, including 6 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 7 from the free-throw line for the Roadrunners (5-5). Primo Spears scored 16 points while shooting 4 for 12 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. Damari Monsanto finished 4 of 4 from 3-point range and 3 for 4 from the line to finish with 15 points. The Fightin' Hawks (4-8) were led by Treysen Eaglestaff, who finished with 24 points, four assists and two steals. Dariyus Woodson added 23 points. Deng Mayar contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds. UTSA took the lead with 19:02 to go in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 39-34 at halftime, with Monsanto racking up nine points. UTSA used a 9-0 run in the second half to build a 13-point lead at 55-42 with 15:16 left in the half before finishing off the win. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

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Subscribe Post By: Libby Allnatt December 3, 2024 No Comments Mellow Mushroom is now open along the BeltLine. The restaurant, located at The Boulevard at Grant Park , is a prototype for the brand, with rebranded design, new technology and counter-service ordering. It was created in partnership with The Culinary Edge . The new Mellow Mushroom features the concept’s classic food-and-beverage items, alongside new items available exclusively at this location, from the savory (like Fajita Steak Pizza and Chicken Pesto Panizzi) to the sweet (like the Apple Monkey Bombs, pull-apart dough bites layered with apple compote, caramel icing and cinnamon sprinkles). The beverage program also includes new mocktails and cocktails. The 3,400-square-foot space has two outdoor, BeltLine-facing patios. The new location is the first Mellow Mushroom to unveil new guest-facing technologies, including kiosk ordering, digital menu boards, a curated music program that changes by the time of day and season, and more. Back-of-house systems are also getting an upgrade. Founded in Atlanta in 1974, Mellow Mushroom now has more than 160 locations nationwide. In addition to pizza, the menu includes calzones, hoagies, salads, desserts and more. Related Posts [email protected] RESTAURANTS RETAIL REAL ESTATE ABOUT CONTACT COMPANY BECOME A PARTNER BROWSE PARTNERS © What Now Media Group 2024. All rights reserved.MACON, Ga. (AP) — Ahmad Robinson had 25 points in Mercer's 75-63 win over winless Chicago State on Sunday. Robinson shot 9 of 16 from the field and went 7 for 8 from the free-throw line for the Bears (6-4). Marcus Overstreet scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Angel Montas had nine points. Noble Crawford led the Cougars (0-12) with 20 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals. Cameron Jernigan added 18 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Troy McCoy scored 11. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .