Page 4 - aruba-today-20190112

A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 12 January 2019

Texas set to remove Confederate plaque from state Capitol

By PAUL J. WEBER 1959. It remained mounted
Associated Press to wall next to a staircase in
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas the Capitol after the vote,
Gov. Greg Abbott agreed and it was unclear when it
Friday to remove a plaque would be removed.
in the state Capitol that re- Texas has taken down Con-
jects slavery as the underly- federate plaques before.
ing cause of the Civil War, In 2000, then-Gov. George
bending after years of resis- W. Bush’s administration re-
tance by state Republican moved two Confederate
leaders in the face of Con- memorial plaques in the
federate monuments fall- state Supreme Court build-
ing nationwide. ing following pressure from
A unanimous vote by the the Texas NAACP.
State Preservation Board, But Texas Republican lead-
which Abbott chairs, or- ers since then have stood
dered the removal of the firm as scrutiny over Con-
60-year-old plaque that federate monuments inten-
pledges to teach “the sified in recent years. Fol-
truths of history,” adding lowing the Charlottesville
that “one of the most im- rally in August 2017, Abbott
portant of which is that the said racism and hate-filled
war between the states Members of the State Preservation Board, state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, House Speaker Dennis violence was never ac-
was not a rebellion, nor was Bonnen, R-Angleton, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and citizen board member Aletha ceptable, but that “tearing
its underlying cause to sus- Swann Bugg during a meeting of the State Preservation Board at the Capitol on Friday January down monuments won’t
tain slavery.” 11, 2019. erase our nation’s past.”
The plaque is among near- Associated Press Two months later, Johnson
ly a dozen Confederate after Friday’s vote. Texas ter Friday’s vote whether Board is governed by Tex- and Abbott discussed the
markers in and around the Republicans had been res- efforts to remove other as’ three most powerful plaque in a private meet-
Texas Capitol. It’s the first olute after the Charlottes- Confederate symbols at Republicans — Abbott, Lt. ing, which ended with
slated to come down since ville rally that tearing down the Texas Capitol would Gov. Dan Patrick and new- both sides offering conflict-
the deadly 2017 white na- Confederate markers become easier. “Why ly chosen House Speaker ing accounts of the con-
tionalist rally in Charlottes- wouldn’t change history, shouldn’t we be able to Dennis Bonnen. They quick- versation. Abbott’s office
ville, Virginia, that led to but pressure intensified af- talk about the monuments ly voted to remove the pushed back on Johnson
the removal of a string of ter a black lawmaker from on the Capitol grounds or plaque with no discussion saying the governor indi-
Confederate monuments Dallas began condemning anything else,” Johnson and left without speaking to cated support for taking it
nationwide . the plaque that hangs near said. “I don’t think it’s a about a dozen reporters in down, but later said that
But Abbott and state lead- his Capitol office as histori- conversation we should be the room. None of their of- “substantially inaccurate
ers resisted acting on similar cally indefensible. afraid to have, not in 2019 fices immediately returned historical statements” don’t
calls in Texas, and the gov- Dallas state Rep. Eric John- in America, in Texas.” messages for comment. belong on display at the
ernor made no comment son appeared unsure af- The State Preservation The plaque was first hung in Capitol.q

US flu season poised to be milder than last year’s harsh one

By MIKE STOBBE son, partly because it’s so a flu season is over, but re-
Associated Press early. Flu usually takes off searchers have been work-
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s early, after Christmas and peaks ing on the model for nearly
but the current flu season around February. a decade and believe it is
is shaping up to be gentler On Friday, the CDC re- sound enough to use while
than last winter’s unusually leased its regular weekly flu the season is still going on,
brutal one, U.S. health offi- update, showing that it was officials said.
cials said. reported to be widespread Because the model is new,
In most parts of the coun- in 30 states last week, up CDC researchers said they
try, most illnesses right now from 24 the week before. aren’t able to compare
are being caused by a flu The health agency also re- those estimates to previous
strain that leads to fewer leased new estimates of flu seasons.
hospitalizations and deaths how the flu season is play- Last season, an estimated
as the kind of flu that domi- ing out. It said: 49 million Americans got
nated a year ago, accord- —About 6 million to 7 million sick from the flu, 23 million
ing to officials at the Cen- In this Friday, Feb. 9, 2018 file photo, Henry Beverly, 73, battles Americans have become ill went for medical care and
ters for Disease Control and the flu while tended to by nurse Kathleen Burks at Upson Regional since flu season kicked off 960,000 were hospitalized.
Prevention. Vaccines also Medical Center in Thomaston, Ga. in the fall. Some doctors and nurses
work better against it, said Associated Press —About half were sick were anxious going into
the CDC’s Dr. Alicia Fry. Fry said. In recent years, flu-related enough to go to see a doc- this flu season, considering
So is the U.S. in for a milder Last season, an estimated deaths have ranged from tor. how bad last year was, said
flu season? 80,000 Americans died of about 12,000 to 56,000, ac- —Roughly 70,000 to 80,000 Dr. James Steinberg, chief
“If (this strain) continues to flu and its complications — cording to the CDC. have been hospitalized. medical officer at Emory
be the predominant virus, the disease’s highest death The CDC has no estimate The CDC usually doesn’t University Hospital Midtown
that is what we’d expect,” toll in at least four decades. of deaths so far this sea- make those estimates until in Atlanta. q