Archives for February 2021

The PGA Tour without Tiger Woods was always inevitable purely because of age. His shattered right leg from his SUV flipping down a hill on a sweeping road through coastal Los Angeles suburbs only brings that closer.

Golf wasn’t ready Wednesday to contemplate the future of its biggest star after the 10th and most complicated surgery on the 45-year-old Woods. There was more relief that he was alive.

“Listen, when Tiger wants to talk about golf, we’ll talk about golf,” Commissioner Jay Monahan said at the World Golf Championship in Florida. “When you’re going to overcome what he needs to overcome, I think the love of all of our players and everybody out here, it’s going to come forward in a big way and across the entire sporting world.

“I think he’ll feel that energy and I think that’s what we should all focus on.”

Woods made it clear what he faces with an update posted early Wednesday to social media by his team that outlined the “long surgical procedure” at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Anish Mahajan, the chief medical officer, said Woods shattered tibia and fibula bones on his right leg in multiple locations. Those were stabilized by a rod in the tibia. He said a combination of screws and pins were used to stabilize additional injuries in the ankle and foot.

Four previous surgeries to repair ligaments were done on the left knee. This is the first major trauma to the right leg. Woods has had five surgeries on his lower back in the last seven years. The most recent was in December, a microdiscectomy to remove a pressurized disk that was pinching a nerve.

“I would say, unfortunately, it’s very, very unlikely that he returns to be a professional golfer after these injuries,” said Dr. Michael Gardner, chief of orthopedic trauma at Stanford Medical Center. “His age, his multiple back issues, this is going to be a very long road ahead if he chooses to attempt to return to his previous level of golfing.”

Can golf do without the player singularly responsible for its growth?

His watershed victory in the 1997 Masters sent media interest in golf soaring. More than just the first player of Black heritage in a green jacket, he won at a more prolific rate than anyone in history. The timing was impeccable, for the PGA Tour negotiated a television contract that made prize money spike.

Woods won his first tournament as a 20-year-old in the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, where the total purse was $1.65 million. At the World Golf Championship this week, first place alone is worth $1.82 million.

Woods made everyone rich.

What now?

The PGA Tour has been down this road before.

Ten years ago, when Woods was still smarting from the sordid revelations of serial adultery and missed three months with more injuries, the PGA Tour negotiated a nine-year television deal with increased rights fees. There was no assurance Woods could get back to the top of his game.

Woods was playing a small schedule even when he was younger and healthier. He has never played more than 21 times in a year on the PGA Tour, which stages events in 46 weeks this season.

He also tends to return to the same courses. But when he plays, and there isn’t a pandemic, no one needs to study TV ratings to measure his impact. Fans often stand six and seven rows deep behind tees and greens to get a look. No other player attracts that kind of attention. The top 10 in the world combined don’t do that.

Woods doesn’t move the needle. Woods is the needle.

“It’s always great when he plays at a tournament or is out here because it gives that tournament an extra dimension that it usually doesn’t,” four-time major champion Rory McIlroy said. “We were all sort of heading towards that day that Tiger wasn’t going to be a part of the game.”

Woods had only one top-10 finish last year, and that was before the pandemic. Even after golf returned, he waited an additional month to get started. He played only seven times since July and never cracked the top 35. He remains one victory short of his 83rd victory, which would set a PGA Tour record, the one most reasonable for him to break. That was before the crash.

McIlroy already has seen one comeback. He often talks about having lunch one day with Woods in Florida, right after Woods’ fourth back surgery to fuse his lower spine. He saw the pain. And two years later, he saw Woods win the Masters for a fifth time, his 15th major.

“I don’t want to take anything away from what Ben Hogan did after his car crash or any of the other comebacks that athletes have had in other sports, but right now I can’t think of any greater comeback in sports than the journey that he made from that lunch we had in 2017 to winning the Masters a couple years later,” McIlroy said.

Hogan threw himself in front of his wife right before they were struck by a Greyhound bus in 1949. He broke his pelvis, collarbone and left ankle, chipped a rib and had blood clots that left him with circulation problems the rest of his life. Hogan was 36 at the time.

What the future holds for Woods and for the tour is not anything players were ready to embrace.

“At this stage, I think everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, that he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad,” McIlroy said. “That’s the most important thing. Golf is so far from the equation right now, it’s not even on the map.”

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More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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LEXINGTON, Ky.: The Rev. Jim Thurman counts himself among the converts who recognize the importance of taking a COVID-19 vaccine.

The prominent Black activist received his second dose of vaccine Wednesday as Kentucky’s governor highlighted efforts to encourage minority populations to roll up their sleeves for the shots.

“It’s a matter between life and death,” said Thurman, president of the Lexington-Fayette County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Thurman said he initially refused to be inoculated, pointing to historical reasons for part of his hesitancy. He specifically noted the so-called “Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” in which the federal government let hundreds of Black men in Alabama go untreated for syphilis for 40 years for research purposes.

But after considerable prayer, Thurman said, he saw the value of getting the shot.

Gov. Andy Beshear joined Thurman and other Black leaders at Shiloh Baptist Church to promote efforts to increase vaccination rates among the state’s minority residents.

Blacks make up 8.4% of Kentucky’s population but account for 4.6% of those vaccinated so far, the governor’s office said.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

States are passing their own virus aid, not waiting for Washington. The U.N.’s global vaccine plan is underway, but problems remain. Ghana’s first to get those COVAX shots. The FDA says single-shot dose from Johnson & Johnson prevents severe COVID. And Pfizer’s vaccine works well in first big ‘real world’ test. Vaccinated for the virus, Jimmy Carter and wife can retur n to church.

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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

LOS ANGELES — California is revamping its plan to help essential workers and seniors in underserved communities get coronavirus vaccinations after officials learned that access codes for appointments were being used by people who aren’t eligible for the shots.

It comes as the state of 40 million people tries to prioritize vaccinating the most vulnerable.

California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services spokesman Brian Ferguson said Wednesday the state provided general access codes to community groups to sign up residents at federally funded vaccination sites in Los Angeles and Oakland. But the codes were passed on, leading some people to sign up for shots who shouldn’t. The state will issue individual codes starting next week.

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation health officials have reported 20 new confirmed COVID-19 cases with seven additional deaths.

The numbers released Tuesday night bring the total number of cases on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah to 29,576 since the pandemic began. There have been 1,152 reported deaths that were related to COVID-19.

The Navajo Department of Health on Monday identified 21 communities with uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Feb. 5-18. That’s an increase from last week’s 15 communities, but down from 75 communities with uncontrolled coronavirus spread last month.

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ATLANTA — After weeks of waiting and political pressure, Gov. Brian Kemp is ready to announce that teachers are up next for COVID-19 vaccinations in Georgia.

Kemp spokesperson Mallory Blount says the Republican governor will announce vaccination plans that will include teachers on Thursday.

She says Kemp will include other “vulnerable Georgians.” Kemp has also faced pressure to open vaccinations to people with disabilities and frontline workers like those who work in poultry processing plants.

One key question is whether there are dedicated sources of vaccines for teachers, like in-school clinics, to keep them from having to compete with the general public for appointments.

Right now in Georgia, anyone 65 and older is eligible for vaccination, as well as emergency workers, health care workers, and employees and staff of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.

Opening the gates to many more groups could prompt a rush like that seen when Kemp made everyone over 65 eligible in mid-January.

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JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has tested positive for COVID-19 and has mild symptoms, his office announced Wednesday.

Dunleavy, a 59-year-old Republican, is currently at home in the Wasilla area, north of Anchorage.

On Sunday, Dunleavy was identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19. He felt well and tested negative but went into quarantine to reduce possible exposure to others.

Dunleavy felt well until Tuesday night, the statement said. A second test Wednesday morning confirmed he tested positive for the virus.

Because Dunleavy was in quarantine during his infectious period, his office says currently there are no known close contacts.

The state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, and Dunleavy’s personal physician are monitoring the governor and will “provide the public with updates as needed,” the release said.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — With cases and other key metrics trending downward in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday announced the state will ease gathering and occupancy restrictions and end its 10 p.m. statewide curfew starting Friday.

For the first time since early into the coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic governor is allowing bars and taverns to offer indoor service. His new executive order also increases alcohol sale cutoff times by two hours from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and lets those businesses operate at 30% capacity or up to 250 people. If they follow state health guidelines, such as mask wearing and physical distancing, night clubs, conference spaces, indoor amusement parks, movie theaters and sports and entertainment venues may also operate with the same capacity.

Larger sports venues able to seat over 5,000 people can host up to 15% of their fans, provided they adhere to additional safety restrictions as well.

Shortly after the news, the Hurricanes announced the team will begin hosting fans for its March 4 game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Cooper’s directive goes into effect at 5 p.m. Friday and expires at the same time on March 26. Restaurants, breweries, wineries, gyms, bowling alleys, swimming pools, museums, outdoor amusement park areas, hair salons and retailers are given a 50% capacity limit.

The governor’s directive also allows more people to congregate, boosting the indoor gathering limit from 10 to 25. Outdoor gatherings remain limited to 50 people.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Moderna announced Wednesday it has brewed experimental doses of its COVID-19 vaccine that better match a mutated version of the virus, ready for tests to tell how the update works.

Health authorities say first-generation COVID-19 vaccines still protect against variants of the virus that are emerging in different parts of the world. But in case the vaccines eventually need to be updated, manufacturers are working on how to tweak their recipes.

The variant sparking the most concern currently is one that first emerged in South Africa. Moderna said it has made doses of vaccine specifically targeted to that variant and shipped them to the National Institutes of Health for a study.

U.S. regulators say a revamped vaccine wouldn’t need to be studied for months in thousands of people. But it would need testing in several hundred people, to see if their immune systems react similarly to the updated shot as to the original.

Moderna said it also has begun testing whether simply giving a third dose of the original vaccine would offer an extra immune boost that could guard against variants, even if it’s not an exact match.

In a separate announcement, Moderna also said it plans to manufacture 700 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine globally this year, up from 600 million. The company also said it was making new manufacturing capacity investments that could yield 1.4 billion doses in 2022.

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WASHINGTON — The sister of Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has died from complications related to COVID-19. Bowser’s office announced Wednesday that Mercia Bowser had died at the age 64 from “COVID-19 related pneumonia.”

“Mercia was loved immensely and will be missed greatly, as she joins the legion of angels who have gone home too soon due to the pandemic,” said Bowser in a statement.

The youngest of six siblings, Bowser, 48, asked the public for “the time and space we need to mourn the loss of Mercia.”

Hours prior to her sister’s death, Bowser had already declared Feb. 24 a day of remembrance to mark the nation’s capital passing 1,000 COVID-19 deaths.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to distribute millions of face masks to Americans in communities hard-hit by the coronavirus.

It’s part of his effort to ensure equity in the government’s response to the pandemic. Biden is aiming to reach underserved communities and those bearing the brunt of the outbreak. His plan will distribute masks not through the mail, but through Federally Qualified Community Health Centers and the nation’s food bank and food pantry systems.

The White House announced it expects more than 25 million American-made cloth masks in both adult and kid sizes will be distributed.

Biden has asked everyone to wear face masks for the first 100 days of his term. He’s also required mask-wearing in federal buildings and on public transportation.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A coronavirus variant originally traced to Brazil has been discovered in Alaska.

The variant was found in a specimen of an Anchorage resident who developed COVID-19 symptoms, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The person had no known travel history.

Dr. Joe McLaughlin, an epidemiologist with the state health department, says there is some evidence to suggest the P.1 variant is more transmissible than the original virus.

The person ate at an Anchorage restaurant with at least one other person in late January and didn’t wear a mask. The infected person developed symptoms four days later and tested positive on Feb. 8.

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ROME — Italy registered 16,424 coronavirus cases, the highest number in six weeks.

Italy’s vaccination program recently was forced to slow, after a quick initial start, when vaccine manufacturers didn’t deliver all the doses according to the original timetable.

Italy’s total confirmed cases rose to 2.8 million. With 318 more deaths, the known total rose to 96,666, Europe’s second-highest confirmed death toll after Britain.

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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia’s foreign minister says all the preparations for the arrival of vaccines through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program were done but no shots have arrived.

Officials with COVAX, the program designed for poorer countries, says the promised batch of the vaccines haven’t t been dispatched because Bosnia’s authorities haven’t met Pfizer’s ultra-cold storage requirements.

Foreign minister Bisera Turkovic says the “cold chain” has been met, money has been paid for the vaccines and the non-arrival problem is on COVAX and Pfizer.

Bosnia, a country of 3.3 million, expects 1.2 million vaccines through COVAX. The program has faced delays in the global vaccine distribution because of problems with deliveries from suppliers.

The Serb-run half of the state has received about 2,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Its health workers have been receiving shots in neighboring Serbia, which managed to make direct deals with China, Russia, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

On Wednesday, Ghana has become the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX.

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TORONTO — Canada’s largest city, Toronto, has cancelled all outdoor events until July 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Toronto Mayor John Tory says that includes Canada Day celebrations and Pride parade. He says it’s too soon to say whether events after that date will be cancelled as well.

The provincial Ontario government says they won’t start vaccinating people 80 years or above until the third week of March and won’t start with those 60 and above until July 1.

Canada has had a shortage of vaccines until this week but expects to get 6 million vaccines before the end of March and 29 million by July for a population of 37 million people.

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WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health is launching research to understand the causes and consequences of the lingering brain fog, breathing problems and malaise reported by many recovering COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says some studies have shown up to 30% of patients report symptoms that can endure for months, complicating their return to normal routines and work, and plunging many recovering patients into depression.

Fauci noted at a White House coronavirus briefing on Wednesday that work at NIH started this week thanks to more than $1 billion provided by Congress for COVID-related medical research. Government scientists are looking to enlist doctors and research institutions around the country in the effort to learn about “long-haul” COVID-19.

Fauci says a critical issue is whether COVID-19 predisposes some patients to other medical problems later, such as conditions affecting the heart or brain.

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SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — A trust representing more than 80,000 victims of deadly wildfires ignited by Pacific Gas and Electric’s rickety electrical grid is suing nearly two dozen of the utility’s former executives and board members for alleged dereliction of their duty to ensure the equipment wouldn’t kill people.

The complaint filed Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court is an offshoot of a $13.5 billion settlement that PG&E reached with the wildfire victims while the utility was mired in bankruptcy from January 2019 through June last year.

As part of that deal, PG&E granted the victims the right to go after the utility’s hierarchy leading up to and during a series of wind-driven wildfires that killed more than 100 people and destroyed more than 25,000 homes and businesses in Northern California in 2017 and 2018.

John Trotter, the trustee overseeing the $13.5 billion settlement, is now following through with an action that targets a litany of former executives and board members.

The list includes two of PG&E’s former chief executives, Anthony Earley and Geisha Williams, who were paid millions of dollars during their reigns. The company is now being run by a former Michigan utility executive, Patricia Poppe, with a board of directors that was overhauled during PG&E’s bankruptcy case.

PG&E acknowledged the lawsuit without commenting directly on the allegations. “We remain focused on reducing wildfire risk across our service area and making our electric system more resilient to the climate-driven challenges we all face in California,” the company said in a statement.

The wildfire victims’ lawsuit is seeking to tap into the $200 million to $400 million in liability insurance that PG&E secured for the former executives and board members, said Frank Pitre, the lawyer handling the case. He told The Associated Press that he hopes to resolve the lawsuit within the next year to help wildfire victims still struggling to rebuild their lives.

If the lawsuit is successful, it could help make up for a roughly $1 billion shortfall that the wildfire victims’ trust faces because half of the promised settlement consisted of PG&E stock that is currently worth less than hoped for when the deal was struck toward the end of 2019.

Trotter acknowledged the problem in a Jan. 26 letter to the wildfire victims — many of whom had balked at a settlement that required half of the promised $13.5 billion to come in stock in a company with a history of negligence.

But none of the PG&E shares have been been sold by the trust so far, leaving time for the stock to rebound.

PG&E’s stock price closed at $11.41 on Wednesday. The shares have ranged from a low of $3.55 to $25.19 during the past two tumultuous years.

The complaint against PG&E’s former executives and board members seeks to tie them to acts for which the utility has already accepted responsibility.

That includes the company pleading guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for causing a 2018 wildfire that wiped out the town of Paradise, California, along with the surrounding area. PG&E was fined $4 million in that case, the maximum penalty allowed.

“If there was ever a corporation that deserved to go to prison, it’s PG&E,” Butte County Judge Michael Deems said at the time of the utility’s sentencing eight months ago.

Deems’ condemnation is included in the wildfire victims’ lawsuit as well as scorching criticism from U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing PG&E’s probation in another criminal case stemming from the utility’s neglect of natural gas lines that blew up an entire neighborhood in a San Francisco Bay Area suburb in 2010.

Alsup has repeatedly ripped PG&E for not doing more to maintain its power lines in recent years, including during a court hearing earlier this month cited in the victims’ lawsuit.

“PG&E has been a terror, T-E-R-R-O-R, to the people of California,” Alsup said during the Feb. 3 hearing.

Pitre said it’s time to hold people hired to manage and oversee the company responsible for PG&E’s recklessness. “We are talking about a massive dereliction of duty.”

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