February 4 top news briefs

The NFL said the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, the host of Super Bowl LV, which is also the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, cannot fire cannons from its pirate ship because that would make the field not neutral. The cannons are typically fired after the Buccaneers score touchdowns or after a big play. This is the first time in history that a NFL team will play in its home stadium for the Super Bowl.

There is expected to be 22,000 fans in the stadium. 7,500 of them are fully vaccinated health care workers who have received free tickets, but 14,500 tickets will go to anyone and they are not required to be vaccinated.

There will be a military flyover as a part of the pregame ceremonies. A female pilot, Captain Sarah Kociuba, will lead the flyover with a B-2 plane. She told Fox 13 news that she is very humbled and is very excited.

Kociuba said she will meet with two other large bomber-type planes and then fly in a very low altitude and at a very high speed to fly over the stadium. For sure Warren “Wawa” Snipe will feel it after he signs the National Anthem! Check out my interview with him if you haven’t, in a separate video.

Here are some Covid-19 updates. On Wednesday, there were over 3,800 new deaths and about 120,000 new cases. The amount of daily deaths has been the same for the past several weeks, but the amount of new cases are dipping, likely because not as many people are traveling or getting together compared with the holiday season.

However, many people are expected to hold parties this weekend because of the Super Bowl. Dr. Anthony Fauci said people should stay home to watch the game instead of going to a party with those who you don’t know if they are infected or not. The CDC said if you do go to a party, you shouldn’t shout, because that causes more respiratory droplets to go up in the air. The CDC also said you should bring your own plates and cups and utensils.

Look at this map from the New York Times of Covid-19 hot spots in the U.S. The darker-colored areas are the worst-affected, while the lighter-colored areas have lower cases.

Generally the lower part of the U.S. is more affected than the northern part.

Dr. Fauci said for things to go back to normal, 70% of Americans need to be fully vaccinated, but only 2% have been so far. 27 million Americans have received their first shots. Only six million have received two doses. About 1.3 million people nationwide are receiving a Covid-19 vaccine every day.

A epidemiologist (scientist specializing in diseases) at the University of Minnesota said the UK variant, B.1.1.7, is as dangerous as a Category 5 hurricane approaching the U.S. coast.

[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]

In Louisiana, a man named Beaux Cormier, who faced trial on rape charges, is accused of hiring two hitmen to kill the female rape victim to prevent her from testifying. The victim is Cormier’s niece.

The two hitmen, Dalvin Wilson and Andrew Eskine, ended up killing the wrong woman and a friend who was visiting her.

The woman who died’s name is Brittany and she is actually Beaux’s sister and the mother of the victim.

News reports said Brittany pretended to be the rape victim in order to save the life of the actual victim. Her friend, Hope Nettleton, happened to be there at her home when the two hitmen showed up and died after trying to fight them.

Brittany’s daughter and stepdaughter were hiding in a closet at the time the hitmen came in.

Police has arrested Beaux and the two hitmen and the three are charged with first-degree murder and may face the death penalty.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2021-super-bowl-nfl-says-buccaneers-cant-fire-cannons-from-famed-pirate-ship-following-touchdowns/

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/meet-the-bomber-pilot-who-will-be-leading-the-super-bowl-flyover

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?auth=login-email&login=email

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-02-04-21/h_79d5e7007e41fe4ba91371423128f4c2

https://heavy.com/news/beaux-cormier-louisiana/

https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/crime_police/article_bb29097e-6636-11eb-812d-8b10eadf478d.html