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A hospital in Maine announced it would suspend emergency-level care at its walk-in location due to a staffing shortage, coming about a week after a facility in Minnesota suspended its urgent care and emergency room service. York Hospital said it is suspending emergency care at the Wells, Maine, facility starting Oct. 25. “York Hospital in Wells will temporarily suspend emergency-level care,” the hospital said in a statement. “Wells Walk-In Care will continue to offer urgent care to all patients” seven days per week but won’t operate 24 hours per day. “If you are experiencing life-threatening symptoms (severe pain, difficulty breathing)...

The dysfunctional federal jail where Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in 2019 will be closed “at least temporarily,” the Justice Department said Thursday. The Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan could be shut down as soon as the coming month, sources say. “In an effort to address the issues at MCC NY as quickly and efficiently as possible, the Department has decided to close the MCC, at least temporarily, until those issues have been resolved. Planning for the deactivation is under way, and we will have more updates as that process continues,” a DOJ spokeswoman said in a statement. Sources were...

The 48-year-old Interstate 40 bridge between Arkansas and Tennessee was rated as being in “fair” condition with a sufficiency factor of 58% before a “significant” fracture was discovered on May 11. The structure has remained closed to traffic since that time as crews work to repair the damage, first stabilizing the bridge to accommodate the equipment needed and then removing and replacing the damaged portion of a 900-foot structural beam. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) said a fracture may be caused by overload, shock, fatigue or stress. A critical fracture could lead to collapse, if not properly repaired and...

Thursday, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) spoke about the Biden administration’s decision to close Mount Rushmore for the Fourth of July festivities, a contrast to a year earlier when then-President Donald Trump spoke before a fireworks display. The South Dakota Republican slammed the move, claiming it was part of the “radical left’s agenda.” “You know, the decision was really arbitrary,” she said. “That’s why we’ll be appealing this decision, and the fight isn’t over. There wasn’t specific reasons that had credibility, and we call this an unlawful act to not make sure that we can conduct our celebration on July 3...

Cyber attacks on businesses are increasing and creating such a trail of damage it's pushing many firms to the brink of closure, a new international survey has found. According to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness report 2021 some 43 per cent of companies report having been targeted with over a quarter experiencing five assaults or more. One in six businesses attacked (17 percent) also reveal how the financial impact has threatened the company’s future. ... Ransomware now commonplace: Around one in every six firms attacked was targeted with ransomware and more than half paid up. In the US, the proportion paying...

Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo, who on Friday declared “gas is over,” is pushing for the closure of more oil pipelines around the country just days after several states experienced gas shortages due to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline following a cyberattack. Mark Ruffalo tweeted his message Friday, blaming former President Donald Trump for “rubber stamping” so many “risky” pipelines. He encouraged his fans to follow a campaign called “Stop Trump Pipelines,” which is pressuring the Biden administration to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 in Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as other pipeline projects.

China's mass closure of Catholic orphanages, largely made up of children with mental and physical disabilities, betrays the hope of the controversial 2018 Vatican agreement that promised a “better day” for the Church, a priest has said. In a recent article published by Asia News, a Chinese priest who goes by P. Wendao urged the pope and the universal Church to stop the closure of Catholic orphanages after authorities with the Chinese Communist Party shuttered several homes, transferring children — many of them disabled — to other facilities. “It is clear that those government officials are not planning to serve...

This one sort of came out of left field during the press briefing yesterday. Jen Psaki announced that President Biden is planning to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Eventually. Maybe. While it’s true that Biden brought this up a few times on the campaign trail, there was never much in the way of details as to how he planned to pull it off. Nothing much has changed in that regard because all Psaki would say was that there was going to be a “robust” review of the situation. (Associated Press)President Joe Biden will seek to close the prison...

Participants in the 2018 pro-life observance 40 Days for Life gather near an abortion clinic in Green Bay, WisconsinOver the last five years, 127 abortion clinics closed, a report by the Abortion Care Network shows. Forty-one of the clinics closed in the last two years, the report said. Independent abortion clinics execute 58% of abortions in the United States, with Planned Parenthood performing an additional 37%. Physicians’ offices and hospitals perform the remaining 4%.“Meaningful access to abortion care in the United States depends on independent abortion care providers keeping their doors open,” the report reads. “Unfortunately, independent providers are also...

Gov. Roy Cooper ordered an Alamance County speedway that’s violated his executive orders against mass gatherings closed immediately, declaring the venue an imminent hazard. In an order issued Monday night and obtained by The News & Observer, Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen said Ace Speedway could open again if it presents a plan to adhere to state guidelines and that plan is approved by the Department of Health and Human Services. The speedway’s next scheduled night of racing is June 19. The order said Ace Speedway must notify the public by 5 p.m. Tuesday that its upcoming race schedule and...

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Specialty's Cafe & Bakery, a Pleasanton-based chain that had locations around the West Coast and as far away as Chicago, announced Sunday that it is going out of business after 33 years, an apparent victim of the novel coronavirus health emergency. It's last day of operation would be Tuesday, the company said in an announcement posted Sunday on its website. "Current market conditions attributed to COVID-19 and shelter-in-place policies have decimated company revenues," the chain said in its post. Offerings at Specialty's included soup, salad, sandwiches, baked goods and a coffee bar. In the Bay Area it...

Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health has closed Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Ashland, Ky. Bon Secours announced plans in January to close the 214-bed hospital. The hospital was originally scheduled to shut down in September, but the timeline was moved up to April after employees began accepting new jobs or tendering resignations. "Many members of our team have already accepted new positions conditionally, meaning that start dates with their new employers can't begin until their employment at OLBH ends," Jason Asic, interim president of OLBH, said in February. "These employers have hired our staff in good faith, and we...

Of all the answers that surprised the survey gatherers for the Brooklyn Health Improvement Project, the most surprising one was also the simplest: It was easier and more convenient to sit in an ER waiting room than to try and find a doctor who would see them and help them the same day. It was easier to sit and wait in one place than to be bounced around by phone, put on hold or put off entirely. The added benefit of the ER waiting room: It was near the hospital specialists, labs, pharmacies and outpatient clinics. Rather than travel all...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – The Myrtle Beach City Council passed an ordinance at an emergency meeting Thursday that calls for hotels along the Grand Strand to stop taking new reservations for more than a month. Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said the city had hoped that Gov. Henry McMaster would enact a statewide order restricting tourism. But since the governor has not made one, city leaders called an emergency meeting and took action to protect those who call Myrtle Beach home. “Our priority is our own community. That’s what we did today, we put our community first because we...

After hours of pushback from residents, gun stores, Second Amendment organizations, and even the county attorney, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva reversed course early Wednesday morning and now says his office is suspending attempts to force firearm retailers to lock their doors. Villaneuva announced the move on social media, saying it will be up to Gov. Gavin Newsom to determine what is, and isn’t, an essential business.

The state-wide shutdowns have only been in place for a couple of weeks at most, but people are already starting to get understandably jumpy. Even if we assume that the governments, both state and federal, are handling this pandemic in the wisest way possible, when does it all end? When can we declare this emergency to be in our rearview mirror and have our lives return to some semblance of normality? This weekend, the Boston Globe put that question to some experts in epidemiology and the answers aren’t terribly comforting, at least in my opinion. “That’s one of the hardest...

A Fulton County [GA] Schools employee has tested positive for coronavirus, the district said Monday, and the entire district will close tomorrow.

Mueller's Verdict May Be In, But Closure Is Out of Reach . By Susan CrabtreeMarch 25, 2019 Mueller's Verdict May Be In, But Closure Is Out of ReachAP Photo/Carolyn Kaster After nearly two years of alternating White House angst and Democratic anticipation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and final report set off a frenzy in Washington over the weekend but provided neither closure nor solace for a divided nation. Indeed, it seemed to cement America’s dueling split-screen political realities in place for years to come. anticipation of the “big reveal,” Fox News’ Sean Hannity ran a banner headline Friday night:...

At a packed town hall meeting in Brooklyn Thursday evening to discuss options for saving a crumbling section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, city officials from the Department of Transportation came up against some not-unexpected pushback against a proposal that would involve closing the Brooklyn Heights promenade for six years. This was the first public meeting since the city unveiled two separate proposals for the project last week. The meeting opened with a presentation of both options—each projected to cost between $3 billion and $4 billion—while Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner, braced herself for the inevitable backlash. “I understand a...

A 100-foot fissure has opened up in the Grand Teton National Park – not far from the potentially catastrophic Yellowstone volcano. The giant crack in the Wyoming–based national park has prompted officials to shut down areas from tourists in case of landslides. The Grand Teton National Park said in a statement: “The Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point areas are currently closed due to elevated potential for rockfall. [...snip...] If it was seismic activity beneath Grand Teton which caused the fissure, it could be a sign that Yellowstone is reawakening. If the Wyoming volcano were to erupt an estimated 87,000 people...