Week of 01/09: FREECABLE TV’s Top 10 Stories

How Far Away Is The Endgame Of The COVID-19 Pandemic?

APNews - While pandemics do eventually end, the latest Coronavirus variant Omicron is certainly complicating the question of when this one will. The variant in question serves as a warning about what will continue to happen “unless we really get serious about the endgame,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. “Certainly COVID will be with us forever,” Ko added. “We’re never going to be able to eradicate or eliminate COVID, so we have to identify our goals.”

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NYC's Not Backing Down From COVID-19

ABC - New York City's new mayor, Eric Adams, who was sworn in just after midnight on New Year's Day, said that while challenges lie ahead for the city with the current surge of COVID-19 cases, New Yorkers must adapt to live with the virus. "COVID is a formidable opponent and it continues to evolve, and we must pivot and evolve with it, but you can't do it viewing yourself from within the crisis," Adams told anchor George Stephanopoulos exclusively on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "We have to see ourselves past the crisis." At the same time, Adams also insisted shutdowns for New York were unlikely in his administration. "If we close down our city, it is as dangerous as COVID," Adams said. "That's what our focus must be. So that proper balance of safety [and] keeping our economy operated is going to allow us to get through."

Watch more: https://youtu.be/ZZ9wo7DMuZo

Texas Wins Federal Injunction Against Biden Mandates

FOX - Here's Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as he discusses the state's latest federal injunction gain against the Biden administration's vaccine and masks mandates on "Fox & Friends Weekend", claiming the Pres. doesn't have legal authority to make Americans choose between their health or their jobs. "The idea here is the federal government just can't make up laws without Congress passing them, that the Biden administration has to follow the law. They have to follow the Constitution. They're implementers of the law. They can't just make it up…. And in this case, they're forcing American workers to decide between their health and their job. And they just can't do it. It's just wrong."

Watch more: https://youtu.be/VbdB5J1g3nc

Millions Of Students Return To School

CBS - Millions of children returned to school this week despite a huge jump in new COVID-19 cases across much of the country. And while some districts are teaching remotely, most schools are opting to do in-person classes. With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in mind, some educators like Camille Eterno, a high school English teacher, are urging for in-person learning to be put on pause. "I recognize the need for students to be present in the buildings, but I'm also cognizant of the fact that if we're all bunched up together and we get sick, we're not going to be there anyway," said Eterno, who's been teaching for 24 years.

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FDA Authorizes COVID-19 Boosters For Young Teens

Politico - The Food and Drug Administration authorized COVID-19 booster shots for adolescents ages 12-15 this week, effectively marking the latest step by the U.S. government to green-light more vaccine doses for younger Americans. “Throughout the pandemic, as the virus that causes Covid-19 has continuously evolved, the need for the FDA to quickly adapt has meant using the best available science to make informed decisions with the health and safety of the American public in mind,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. “With the current wave of the omicron variant, it’s critical that we continue to take effective, life-saving preventative measures such as primary vaccination and boosters, mask wearing and social distancing to in order to effectively fight Covid-19."

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4.5M Americans Are Quitting Their Jobs

FOX - FOX Business personality and "How America Works" narrator Mike Rowe cautioned that "every single American" will be feeling the effects from the record number of U.S. workers quitting their jobs. On "Varney & Co." this week, Rowe reacted to Labor Department data which showed 4.5 million Americans either quit or changed their job in November. "This is a conversation about our workforce and the imbalanced nature of it and the way that's going to impact every single American who shares my addiction to smooth roads, indoor plumbing, affordable electricity and so forth," Rowe told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney.

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Drivers Endure Frigid Night On Impassible Highway

WLOX - Hundreds of people were left stranded on the East Coast’s main north-south highway in freezing temperatures this week after a winter storm snarled traffic and left some drivers stuck in place for as much as a full day. The problems began when a truck jackknifed on the I-95, triggering a chain reaction as other vehicles lost control, state police said. Eventually lanes in both directions became blocked across a 40-mile stretch of the highway between Richmond and the nation’s capital at a time when snow was falling around 2 inches an hour. “No one came. It was just shocking,” said Rao, who was traveling home to Burtonsville, Maryland, after visiting her daughter in North Carolina when she got stuck Monday evening. “Being in the most advanced country in the world, no one knew how to even clear one lane for all of us to get out of that mess?”

Watch more: https://youtu.be/bGYJlFZ4b30

Biden Condemns Trump’s Actions On Jan. 6 Attack

CNN - Pres. Biden this week marked the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by forcefully calling out former Pres. Trump for attempting to undo American democracy, saying such an insurrection must never happen again. "For the first time in our history, a President had not just lost an election. He tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob reached the Capitol," Biden said in a speech from the US Capitol that lasted just under 30 minutes. "But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again." And if that wasn't enough, in a direct shot at Trump, Biden added, "His bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution, he can't accept he lost."

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The COVID-19 Wastewater Samples

NBC - With at-home COVID-19 tests in high demand and their efficacy in question, health departments from California to Massachusetts are turning to sewage samples to get a better idea of just how much the coronavirus is spreading through communities and what might be in store for health care systems. “Every time an infected person uses the toilet, they’re flushing this information down the toilet, where it’s collecting and aggregating and mixing with poop from thousands of other people,” said Newsha Ghaeli, a co-founder and the president of Biobot Analytics, a wastewater epidemiology company based in Massachusetts. “Even if you can’t access a test, you’re still pooping,” Ghaeli said. “It doesn’t depend on you having access to health care or health insurance.”

Watch more: https://youtu.be/VFoKq_026B4

Pomepo Calling For US Athletes To Boycott Beijing Olympics

FOX - Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has since called for the U.S. and its athletes to boycott next month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing during an appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" this week. So far, the Biden administration has called only for a diplomatic boycott of the Games, citing human rights concerns inside China. "Look, I’ve been calling for us not to let our athletes go to Beijing for a long time now. I really regret that the leadership of the United States and the IOC have failed these athletes...I love the Olympics like anybody. My mother took me to the L.A. Olympics [in summer 1984]. I saw Carl Lewis run. We were sitting in some really high-up seats at the L.A. Coliseum. I love this event. But … we shouldn’t prop up Xi Jinping."