WGFA NEWS for Friday, November 13, 2009 >
WX > Yet another sunny day before rain returns, high today near 63. South wind at 10-15 mph. A 20-30% chance of showers Saturday and Sunday.
> Grace Baptist Academy in Kankakee was closed Thursday and will be closed today too. Flu symptoms were felt this week. School officials reported 40 of the school’s 162 students were absent Tuesday. Officials felt it was best to close to slow the contagious nature of the disease.
> The Associated Press reported Thursday H1N1 flu has sickened about 22 million Americans since April and killed nearly 4,000, including 540 children. The figures – roughly a quadrupling of previous death estimates – don’t mean H1N1 flu suddenly has worsened, and most cases still don’t require a doctor’s care. Instead, the numbers are a long-awaited better attempt to quantify the new flu’s true toll.
Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said “We have a long flu season ahead of us.” “I am expecting all of these numbers, unfortunately, to continue to rise.” And tight supplies of vaccine to combat the illness continue: Not quite 42 million doses are currently available, a few million less than CDC had predicted last week.
A new Associated Press poll shows nearly one in six parents has gotten at least some of their children vaccinated against H1N1 flu since inoculations began last month. Another 14 percent of parents sought vaccine, but couldn’t find any.
> The Ford-Iroquois Public Health Department is updating the public about future H1N1 vaccination clincis. The two-county agency reports it’s holding at 9 confirmed cases of H1N1 in Ford and Iroquois counties. Eight cases are in Iroquois County and 1 case is in Ford County.
Vaccinations for H1N1 are provided free of charge at health department sponsored clinics. Clinics are scheduled and open to individuals fitting into one of the priority groups:
pregnant women (will need to bring a physician’s order);
caregivers of children younger than 6 months old;
any person between the ages of 6 months and 24 years of age;
any person having a chronic health problem or compromised
immune system and is between the ages of 25 to 64;
medical/dental providers
” Individuals not fitting into one of the above priority groups, will not be given an H1N1 vaccination and asked to return at a later date.
> Future Clnic Dates/Locations:
Date Location Time
Saturday, November 14, 2009 Paxton Buckley Loda Jr./Sr. High School Commons (cafeteria) Paxton, IL 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Saturday, November 14, 2009 Ford-Iroquois Public Health Department
114 North Third Street, Watseka, IL 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Monday, November 16, 2009 St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Clifton, IL 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Ford-Iroquois Public Health Department
Watseka, IL 1 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Paxton Buckley Loda Jr./Sr. High School Commons (cafeteria) Paxton, IL 3 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Gibson City Melvin Sibley Elementary School 902 North Church Street, Gibson City, IL 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Saturday, November 21, 2009 Gibson City Melvin Sibley Elementary School, 902 North Church Street, Gibson City, IL 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
> Closing arguments are likely today in the Iroquois County manslaughter trial of James Brown. The 68-year-old Beaverville man is standing trial for the 2006 shooting death of Heather Todd–a 31-year-old mother of three children–who suffered a shotgun blast to the head on Brown’s property, while a farm shed was being burglarized. Brown’s charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated discharge of a firearm. Brown admits shooting the Demotte, IN woman but says it was self-defense.
On the stand in his own defense Thursday, Brown told the jurors he didn’t plan on shooting anyone; he was just investigating the burglary of his shed. Under cross-examination by Iroquois County State’s Attorney Jim Devine, Brown said “if I wanted to shoot ot kill anyone, I would have shot the person I saw carrying items from my shed.” He told the court he just wanted to apprehend the person committing the crime before he could get away. Heather Todd was killed when Brown said he fired his shotgun at the back-end of a pickup when the vehicle’s rear-brake lights came on and the driver’s door opened.
