Tuesday, January 31 top stories
It is Tuesday, January 31. Here are today’s top stories.
Boulder crashes into Hawaii home
On Saturday night in a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, a boulder came tumbling down a valley and burst through a home and narrowly hit the homeowner. There is a viral video from inside the home that shows the moment the boulder rolled only about a foot away from the homeowner, a 65-year-old woman named Caroline Sasaki.
Here is a video from KITV 4 News.
Video Clip, CREDIT: KITV 4 News
That’s scary. Sasaki said she was walking to the living room to watch television when she heard a boom and backed up and saw it go right past her.
The boulder is 5 feet by 5 feet. KITV 4 News said it went through the home’s cinder block wall and hit the family’s car before going into the home and stopping in a bedroom. Sasaki said she suspects the boulder came from construction work up the valley. City officials are investigating.
Last Boeing 747 leaves factory
Boeing is no longer producing its well-known 747 jumbo jets. Today the last 747 will leave its factory in Everett, Washington. The final plane is the 1,574th plane built at the factory.
AP said the 747 had its first flight in 1969 and has been used for many different purposes, such as a cargo plane, a passenger plane capable of carrying about 500 people, a transport for NASA’s space shuttles, and the Air Force One presidential aircraft.
The plane is now phased out because Boeing and another company, Airbus, are producing more profitable and fuel-efficient planes with similar sizes, and the newer planes only need two engines instead of the 747’s four.
The plane is known as “the Queen of the Skies” and experts said the 747s currently around the world will likely continue flying decades from now because of its longevity.
Ice storm impacting millions
Parts of the central U.S. and several southern states are under various winter storm warnings. News reports said there are multiple accidents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Austin due to ice on the roads from freezing rain. At least two people were killed in collisions. Some people were injured after they exited their vehicles and were struck by oncoming vehicles that may not be able to stop.
The National Weather Service said the “dangerous ice event” is due to a blow of arctic air mixed with a surge in moisture. The ice, other than causing havoc on roads, can cause tree damage and power outages.
Over 1,000 flights were canceled on Monday and over 4,000 flights were delayed.
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Assistant coach impersonates as JV basketball player
In Portsmouth, Virginia, a 22-year-old high school assistant girls JV basketball coach impersonated a 13-year-old player in an away game. The coach’s name is Alisha Boykins.
There is a video of the game on January 21 that shows Boykins playing among teens as a part of the Churchland High School JV team. She is wearing jersey #1 and has purple shoes.
The “real” 13-year-old girl was out of town at the time.
The incident is now under investigation by school officials and Boykins is no longer an employee of Portsmouth Public Schools.
WAVY.com reported that the basketball team’s players and coaches chose to opt out of the remainder of the season. The father of the 13-year-old girl said he was “just shocked” and that the family wants an apology from the school.
6-year-old boy spends $1k on Grubhub orders
A 6-year-old boy in Michigan named Mason spent about $1,000 on multiple Grubhub orders on Saturday night. His father said he was home alone with Mason while his wife was out with her friends and he let him play a game on his cell phone for about a half hour before bed. The father said when he was putting Mason to bed, he saw a car come up to their home and drop off a big bag of things. He thought it was something else but realized something was awry when he realized there were more cars coming to drop off things.
The father said when he looked at his phone, he saw multiple messages from Grubhub saying his food was being prepared, and that it was being delivered. He checked his bank account and saw the funds being drained. He tried to stop the orders, but it was too late.
The father said it was hard to get his 6-year-old son to understand what he did. He said when he told him that this wasn’t good, Mason held up his hand and said, “Dad, did the pepperoni pizzas come yet?” The father said he had to walk out of the room because he wasn’t sure if he should get mad or laugh. He admitted that he was angry at first but has since cooled off.
The family said they put most of the food in their refrigerators and also gave some of the food to their neighbors.
Biden to end Covid-19 health emergencies in May
The Biden administration plans to end the Covid-19 public health emergency on May 11. One of the biggest changes for Americans may be the end of free Covid-19 testing, vaccines, and treatment. But the specifics of which things will remain free or not depends on the type of health insurance you have and whether you are a beneficiary of Medicare or Medicaid.
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna said their Covid-19 vaccines will likely cost between $82 and $130 per dose.
CNN explained that the public health emergency provided additional funds for hospitals, which have been receiving a 20% increase in Medicare’s payment rate for treating Covid-19 patients, but this will end when the public health emergency expires.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/business/last-boeing-747-plane.html
https://apnews.com/article/boeing-delivering-the-last-747-018b4b60e8d8a40aa5bf039c47d81a9a
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/weather/winter-ice-storm-south-central-us/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/30/winter-weather-storm-ice-texas-kentucky-flight-delays
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/politics/may-11-end-of-covid-and-public-health-emergencies/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/31/covid-19-emergency-status-end-may-biden