Kids as young as 12 can get vaccinated in New York City. What parents need to know.
Italian Americans gathering under the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle to stand up for their heritage.
One deacon from Vietnam is very close to living his dream of becoming a priest.
An accident puts a 13-year-old girl in a wheelchair – her family now putting their faith in God for her to walk again.
Currents News Staff
Gas and patience running out all along the East Coast. President Biden is calling on people to not panic as fuel shortages continue in the southeast.
“I don’t know how this is going to work for all of us,” said motorist Rasheika O’Neal.
Another motorist, Shirley Apley tried different locations, with no luck.
“I’ve went to like six different stations and nobody’s got any gas,” Shirley said.
Demand spiked by 40 percent on Monday, May 10, in five states from Florida to Virginia.
“I was on my way to my dad’s house and my gas tank is basically empty,” said motorist Tieisha Brown. “And all of the gas pumps has ‘out of service.’”
Officials are blaming public panic for what seems like a sudden short supply.
“The shortages we are seeing are pretty much solely related to panic buying from people and I want to encourage people not to do that,” said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. “Don’t fill up your car unless you have to.”
The nervous fill-ups sparked by last week’s colonial pipeline cyberattack. The U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm is asking for people not to hoard gasoline.
“There should be no cause for hoarding gasoline, especially in light of the fact the pipeline should be substantially operational by the end of this week,” Jennifer said.
The 5,500 mile pipeline moves roughly 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supply. Gas Buddy reports that more than 1,800 stations are offline. It also reports that in North Carolina, an eye-popping 65 percent are running dry, with long lines stretching for miles.
If drivers are lucky enough to find fuel, it’s costing them.
“Six gallons of gas for $35,” said motorist Leather Kerney. “That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
The average price of a gallon of gas is jumping to three dollars.
“More expensive than we’ve seen in quite some time. Actually, the last time we were at that price point was the end of October in 2014,” said American Automobile Association’s Jeanette C. Mcgee.
Experts warn that panic purchases could create a domino effect – meaning a fear of a gas shortage could actually create one.
“You don’t want to miss out,” said motorist Teresa Finald. “You don’t want to be the one that doesn’t get gas.”
Answering the call — one deacon from Vietnam is very close to living his dream of becoming a priest.
Holy Land in crisis — violence escalates between Israel and Hamas as U.S. officials watch the situation closely.
The gasoline pipeline is flowing again after a cyberattack — but gas shortages continue.
Kids as young as 12 are able to get vaccinated in New York City — what parents need to know.
By Jessica Easthope
Deacon Joseph Hung Tran has had one goal since he was 12 years old: to become a priest.
“Pastors and priests who I’ve met before,” he said, “I desired and thought in my mind, ‘how can I be like him? How can I serve?’”
Now, at the age of 38, his dream is about to come true: he’ll be ordained on June 5.
For the last three years, the Diocese of Brooklyn has been his home. It’s far away from where he grew up in Vietnam, but he builds a new bond with the diverse community on his daily walks from St. Agatha’s parish to Sunset Park Playground.
“I feel very happy to work with people who come from different countries, different cultures, different languages,” Deacon Joseph said. “I love that and how to bring them up and build them up to work together.”
Armed with the Word of God and his favorite soccer ball, he passes people he hopes to be ministering to soon. His spiritual and physical health are top notch.
“For me, I really enjoy sports,” Deacon Joseph said. “Many people call me sport man. I really love how to play many sports: soccer; volleyball; badminton; tennis; billiards, and ping pong, too.”
Growing up in Vietnam, his dad was his spiritual guide, bringing him to attend Mass at 4 a.m. every day. He’s one of 10 children, the first boy after five girls.
“He said, ‘if there’s another girl, we’ll move to another town,’ so thank God it was me,” the deacon said. “But he said ‘if I have a boy, I will offer him up to Jesus, to God, for the vocation,’” he said.
Deacon Joseph says it’s not his favorite food, Vietnamese pho, that makes him feel most full – it’s serving others. Now he’s fulfilling that promise to God, with his love of Christ flowing from him every day.
“I feel very happy and peaceful when I can help others,” he said, “when I can serve others and when I can help the people recognize Jesus, recognize God and how they can enter the Catholic faith.”
He wants to bring an effervescent attitude to his mission of evangelization – making faith more rich so he can share it.
Currents News Staff
Grocery store prices are soaring and prices could climb even more. Families are struggling to put food on the table. What can you do to save on your grocery bills? Join Currents News at 7 p.m. on May 18 for a special report “Supermarket Shock.”
Currents News Staff
Democrats recently introduced legislation that proposes expanding the Supreme Court from nine to 13 seats. It’s a move Republicans call “court packing.”
Alain Sanders, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at St. Peter’s University joined Currents News to un-pack what the Democrats proposal could mean with the justices on the high court.
Italian Americans gathering under the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle – calling for the Department of Education to bring back the explorer’s day.
A farmer finds five young migrant girls abandoned near the border. The youngest was just 11 months old.
Israel and Palestine on the brink of war as they trade rocket attacks. Dozens are already dead.
Pope Francis greets people at the Vatican for the first time in months.
By Jessica Easthope
Representatives from the outraged Italian-American community are making their voices heard. In the shadow of his Columbus Circle statue in Manhattan May 12, they rallied around the Italian explorer who they say is being canceled.
“Our civil rights have been violated as well as the civil rights of tens of thousands of Italian-American students in public schools and this wrong should be made right,” said Angelo Vivolo, the president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition.
Last week, the Department of Education replaced Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday in October, with Indigenous Peoples Day, then later added Italian Heritage Day to its calendar. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was not consulted before the change was made.
“This process wasn’t handled right. I certainly didn’t hear about the change nor did the chancellor,” Mayor de Blasio said.
If the day is not reinstated, Italian American organizations say they’re prepared to take legal action.
“On behalf of the lawyers, we are going to do everything the legal system has to offer to make sure Columbus is not forgotten,” said trial attorney Arthur Aidala.
“There’s not an obvious route through the legal system to get this done, but we have some brilliant legal minds figuring out a way to do that,” Arthur said. “Of course, we’d prefer not to have to go through the court system and people use their common sense and put back what’s been on the calendar for almost 100 years.”
One fact about the Italian explorer that never seems to be up for debate is that Christopher Columbus was Catholic. Those rallying, Wednesday, say any attack on Italian American culture is an attack on faith.
“He wanted to spread the word of Christ and this is an affront to Catholics as well,” Angelo said.
“The Catholic church is not going to be canceled, Christopher Columbus is not going to be canceled, and the contributions of Italian Americans to this country is not going to be canceled,” Arthur said.
Community leaders say now is the time to fight for the students who are on the losing end of the move.
“It’s like a smack in the face,” said Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the community watch guard group Guardian Angels. “They want to rob us of free speech about Columbus in the schools. They want to take away the statues, they want to expunge him from history, which you just can’t do.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he does not agree with the decision to remove Christopher Columbus Day from the public schools calendar and assures it will remain a city and state holiday.
By Currents News and Catholic News Service
Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing for a vote to protect infant survivors of abortion.
Joining Currents News to share more about the “Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” is Kat Talalas, assistant director for pro-life communications for the USCCB’s pro-life committee.
Diocesan Respect Life coordinators and the Pro-Life Secretariat of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops are encouraging Catholics to speak out against the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, legislation which bans federal Medicaid funding of abortions.
“It is so important for people in our parishes to learn about the Hyde Amendment and the life-saving, conscience-protecting impact it has had for the past 45 years. Without this protection, our federal tax dollars will contribute to millions more abortions around our nation and beyond,” said Rachel Hendricks, diocesan Respect Life coordinator for the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.
The Hyde Amendment, which first became law in 1976, prohibits use of federal Medicaid dollars for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the woman would be endangered. Named for former Representative Henry Hyde, Illinois Republican, the amendment is renewed every year as part of the appropriations bill for what is now the Department of Health and Human Services.
It was excluded, however, in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that was signed into law March 11 by President Joe Biden.
If you would like to encourage your local congressman to sign the Born Alive Act, go to usccb.org/take-action.
By Currents News Staff
The FDA has cleared Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for kids between the ages of 12 and 15 for emergency use, making it the first available for anyone under 16. The question now is: Will parents sign their kids up?
While many adults have rolled their own sleeves up for the shot, they’re hesitant to do the same for their children. But doctors say they shouldn’t be.
“Ready? 1,2,3. Stick.”
More and more kids are now able to get the COVID-19 vaccine and some, like 14-year-old Jacob Laney, are already lining up.
“Well, I’m going to be able to, um, go more places, uh, without being scared of getting COVID-19,” Jacob said, “and uh, I’ll be able to just feel safer anywhere.”
But some parents aren’t convinced the vaccine is safe for their kids.
“I want to learn a little more about it before that happens,” said parent Brian Clark, “just to see if there are any adverse effects.”
So far, doctors say they’ve only seen slight reactions after Pfizer’s trials of about 2,000 kids between the ages of 12 to 15. And Dr. Robert Tiballi of the Catholic Medical Association says it is safe for children.
“Bottom line is, I think the children should be vaccinated, yes,” Dr. Tiballi said.
Researchers actually found that after getting the second dose, 12 to 15-year-olds had even higher levels of antibodies than 16 to 25-year-olds who had also gotten the shots, making them far less likely to get sick.
“18 cases of COVID in the 1,500 adolescents that had placebo and zero in the group that got vaccine,” said Dr. Robert Frenck, director at Gamble Center for Clinical Research.
Some might argue COVID in children doesn’t tend to be that severe. In fact, according to the CDC, children under 18 make up about 12 percent of all cases, but also represent just a tenth of a percent of all COVID-19 deaths.
So why get the shot? Here’s one reason from Dr. Tiballi.
“We worry very significantly that there could be a mutation in the virus where it could actually seriously affect children and that can happen any time,” he said.
So the focus now is going even younger. Trials have begun in children like seven-year-old Naomi who has a message for those unsure about getting vaccinated.
“That would be a great way to keep the world safe,” Naomi said.
Dr. Tiballi says while the vaccine for kids is the same material used for adults, it’s a different dose. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says public school students will not have to be vaccinated to return to class in the fall.