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* Thomas Eric Duncan died at 7:51am on Wednesday after receiving no potentially lifesaving blood transfusion or ZMapp * Five other Ebola patients treated in the U.S. are either cured or in the process of being treated * Doctors began giving Duncan an experimental antiviral drug on Monday, but it was too late * Hospital announced 'with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment' that Duncan died after 'fighting courageously against the insidious disease' * Duncan exposed 48 people to the disease before he was hospitalized, including his fiancée and two of her children * His condition took a turn for the...

Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States, grew up next to a leper colony in Liberia and fled years of war before later returning to his country to find it ravaged by the disease that ultimately took his life. Duncan, 42, arrived in Dallas in late September, realizing a long-held ambition to join relatives. He came to attend the high-school graduation of his son, who was born in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast and was brought to the U.S. as a toddler when the boy's mother successfully applied for resettlement....

The first time a reporter asked a CDC representative whether Thomas Duncan — the first patient to receive an Ebola diagnosis in the US — was an American citizen, the question seemed pretty tame. One could excuse it as a general inquiry about the Duncan’s nationality during the first press conference announcing his diagnosis. But after the CDC declined to answer, the question kept coming. "Is he a citizen?" reporters repeatedly asked. "Is he one of us?" they meant. The current Ebola crisis has been tinged with racism and xenophobia. The disease rages in West Africa, and has therefore largely...

Dennis Floyd, left, and Terence Bartholomew are planning to wed. No offense to those couples who rushed to city hall in late June, eager to take advantage of an unexpected federal court ruling that struck down Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban. It’s just that Terence Bartholomew and Dennis Floyd aren’t the spur-of-the-moment, jeans-and-T-shirts, get-hitched-over-the-lunch-hour types. They want a wedding with a capital W. The local couple, who celebrated 22 years together on Sept. 12, were thrilled Monday to hear that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Indiana’s challenge, effectively ending the state’s temporary hold on same-sex marriage. In other...

As a hub of international shipping and travel it stands to reason that Miami might be at a higher risk to report a case of ebola. It also stands to reason that since Miami's economy is dependent on tourism a reported case of ebola could have serious business consequences. So it's not surprising either that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and the county commission are taking extra precautions to prepare for the possibility of ebola in the 305. Come to think of it actually, it's not that surprising that they seem to have no idea what they're talking about either. The...

The family of the first person to die of Ebola in the U.S. is upset with the patient’s medical care, and called his treatment "unfair." Thomas Eric Duncan, who is from Liberia, died Wednesday after being infected with the Ebola virus. He had been in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, since his diagnosis on Sept. 28.Duncan’s nephew Joe Weeks told ABC News he felt Duncan had “unfair” medical treatment. Weeks suggested that Duncan did not get the same treatment being given to Ebola patient Ashoka Mukpo in a Nebraska hospital, although he did not detail that alleged...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Madrid health authorities have put down Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos' dog, Excalibur, despite protests. The animal was sedated prior to euthanasia to avoid its suffering, the Health Ministry of Madrid said in a statement. More than 330,000 people had signed a petition on Change.org to save Excalibur. Ramos, a nurse's assistant, is in isolation after testing positive for the deadly Ebola virus earlier this week. Health authorities worried her dog may have also become infected. Which warrants the questions: Can dogs really get Ebola and spread it to humans? What about other animals? In Africa, Ebola infection "has been...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The body of Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan will be treated with extreme caution because the virus that killed him can live in bodily fluids and tissues as long as they stay wet and at room temperature. Many deaths have been linked to the handling of bodies in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, so the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has clear guidelines for hospitals and mortuaries that might handle the remains of anyone who succumbs to Ebola. At the Dallas hospital where Duncan died on Wednesday morning, anyone who had contact with the body must wear personal protective equipment...

SIERRA VISTA — With early voting starting Thursday, now is the time to bone up on the local issues that will be decided at the ballot box during the Nov. 4 General Election. For Sierra Vista voters, with no city candidates facing runoffs, it really is all about issues. Three ballot questions, to include two hot topics, will be posed to city voters this year. A citizens’ initiative seeking to ban the use of photo enforcement cameras within the city limits has garnered the most attention recently, with the initiative’s organizer placing several large signs around town. King’s Court isn’t...

John Tory's unfair smear against Doug Ford has badly backfired against John Tory Once again on the brink of victory, John Tory has falsely accused his main rival, Doug Ford, of being, racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic.” It looks like déjå vu, all over again In 2007, the then Ontario provincial Conservative leader John Tory, ahead in the polls in a provincial campaign. was cruising to victory. But then Tory, unbeknownst to his closest advisers, decided to pander to the many ethnic and religious groups in Ontario. So Tory then launched into a campaign for the public funding of private faith-based...

[Note that the author is a bigot, but intelligent and articulate. My response below.] Why Not Just Identify Yourself and Avoid Possible Death? Lisa Mahone and her boyfriend Jamal Jones were driving on Sept. 24 in Hammond, Indiana, with Mahone’s two kids in the back seat when Mahone was stopped and ticketed for driving without wearing a seat belt. The stop was caught on cellphone camera by Mahone’s 14-year-old son. “Thank goodness Joseph took the video, because the video stands for itself that these officers engaged in excessive force,” attorney Dana Kurtz said in a news conference with the couple...

An administrative law judge has ruled that a Kentucky printer’s refusal to print gay pride t-shirts “constitutes unlawful discrimination,” and, by extension, that printers cannot refuse to print materials promoting ideas they disagree with. Hands On Originals is a business that prints custom designs on clothes, accessories and other items like mugs and bottles. According to the ruling, Blaine Adamson, its managing owner, “instructed his sales representatives to decline to design, print, or produce orders whenever the requested material was perceived to promote an event or organization that conveys messages that are considered by the sales representative or Mr. Adamson...

Legal momentum for extending U.S. marriage rights to same-sex couples accelerated on Tuesday as a federal appeals court struck down bans on gay matrimony in Idaho and Nevada a day after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand similar rulings for five other states. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled the bans in Idaho and Nevada violated the constitution and cannot be enforced, adding to a growing list of states where same-sex unions are now legal. "Idaho and Nevada's marriage laws, by preventing same-sex couples from marrying and refusing to recognize same-sex marriages celebrated elsewhere, impose...

Missouri authorities are drawing up contingency plans and seeking intelligence from U.S. police departments on out-of-state agitators, fearing that fresh riots could erupt if a grand jury does not indict a white officer for killing a black teen. The plans are being thrashed out in meetings being held two to three times a week, according to people who have attended them. The FBI said it was also involved in the discussions. Details of the meetings and intelligence sharing by Missouri police agencies and their counterparts around the country have not been reported before. The grand jury is expected to decide...

The Reverend bringeth the good news of…discrimination, and stuff.As if Dallas weren’t enough of a circus already, Reverend Jesse Jackson has announced that he will be working with community leaders in Dallas to make sure that Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan receives “the best humanitarian relief” available. (Because round the clock care and rare experimental drug therapy isn’t enough, I guess.) Rev Jesse Jackson Sr @RevJJackson Upon request of family of #ThomasEricDuncan, going to #Dallas to bring comfort& to seek best humanitarian relief America has to offer. #Tues 7:46 PM - 6 Oct 2014 46 Retweets 22 favorites Just when...

You cannot make this stuff up! Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge (Ohio), at a town meeting hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, lectured the black audience for what she called complaining. She spoke in a “you should be ashamed of yourself” tone that would make one feel guilty for complaining. How can they be so ungrateful for all the good things that the Democrats are doing for the black community? I hope you will spend this much time with your local elected officials. I guarantee you most people in this room have not done that. With your school board, with your...

EATONVILLE -- Rev. Al Sharpton spoke to the congregation at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Eatonville, invoking Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis as he urged members to vote in the upcoming election. “How do we answer Stand Your Ground in Florida? How do we answer our outrage over Trayvon Martin? How do we answer the things that we consider abusive and disrespectful and offensive? We go to the polls!" Sharpton said Tuesday. "They should not say, in the light of all that we’ve seen in Florida, that we were missing in action when we had an opportunity to do...

Days after liberal-minded symphony attendees sat quietly while direct action protesters disrupted their evening out, red-blooded Americans attending a baseball game in St. Louis went toe to toe with Michael Brown’s defenders. There have been two Michael Brown demonstrations outside Busch Stadium since the shooting in August. Last month attorney/activist Eric Vickers indicated in a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig that upcoming playoff games in St. Louis have been identified as "protest targets." A few weeks ago, the stadium was the scene of a foiled demonstration. Organizers Sarah Griesbach and Elizabeth Vega, two middle-aged white women who...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)New York City's Department of Health has been on alert for Ebola, and it's now stepping up its contingency plans. The task is not only tracking down any possible cases that could come to our area, but also how to treat and contain the virus. Diagnosing and treating Ebola are all such top priorities in New York right now that officials have been sending actors into emergency rooms pretending to be sick to see how the staff respond. "I really think it's beneficial," student John-David Noguerra said. "I'd rather us be over-prepared than under-prepared for it." To be clear, there...

This guy right here, the one with "I am Darren Wilson" taped onto the back of his Cardinals jersey—an homage to the Ferguson, Mo., police officer who shot an unarmed teenager named Mike Brown to death in August—was at the Cardinals game last night. He, along with many other Cardinals fans, clashed with a small group of protesters who want to see Wilson prosecuted. The guy in the Darren Wilson jersey wasn't even the worst part. Here is a video of some of the protest from last night, via Argus Streaming News. It's rather long, so I'll point out some...