Archives for March 2021

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, working in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida.

They complemented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable.

So when they died minutes apart of COVID-19 this month at a Palm Beach County hospice, it may have been a hidden blessing, their only child, Sarah Milewski, said — even if it was a devastating double loss for her. Her father was 88, her mom 92. Their 67th wedding anniversary would have been this weekend.

“It is so precious, so wonderful, such a heartwarming feeling to know they went together,” Milewski said, then adding, “I miss them.”

Bill Ilnisky grew up in Detroit, deciding at 16 to devote his life to God, Milewski said. He headed to Central Bible College, an Assemblies of God school in Springfield, Missouri. He preached at nearby churches and needed a piano player. Friends suggested Esther Shabaz, a fellow student from Gary, Indiana. They fell in love.

“When my dad proposed, he told her, ‘Esther, I can’t promise you wealth, but I can promise you lots of adventure,’” Milewski said. “She had a lot, a lot of adventure.”

After graduation and their wedding, Bill Ilnisky opened churches in the Midwest. In the late-1950s, the Ilniskys took congregants to Jamaica for a mission, fell in love with the island, and stayed on to run a church in Montego Bay for a decade.

It was during that time they adopted Milewski, then 2, from a Miami foster home. In 1969, the family moved from Jamaica to Lebanon, where Bill Ilnisky ministered to college students and taught. His wife started an outreach center and had a Christian rock band.

“At that time, Lebanon was an amazing country — gorgeous,” Milewski said.

But in 1975, civil war broke out between Christian and Muslim factions, and Beirut, the nation’s capital, became a battleground. Twice, bombs exploded outside their apartment — the first knocking Milewski out of bed, the second slamming her father to the ground.

“My mom thought he was dead,” Milewski said. “My mom and I went and hid in the bathroom all night, crying and praying.” The next morning, bullet holes pocked the walls of apartments on every floor except theirs.

“We attributed that to prayer,” she said.

They fled in 1976 when U.S. Marines evacuated Americans, catching the last plane out.

Shortly after their return to the States, Bill Ilnisky became pastor at Calvary Temple in West Palm Beach, later renamed Lighthouse Christian Center International. His wife started Esther Network International, aimed at teaching children to pray.

Tom Belt, a retired missionary in Oklahoma City, was a teenager at Calvary Temple when the couple arrived. He said Bill Ilnisky’s tales of missionary work whetted his desire to travel.

Belt said the Ilniskys “were very accommodating, believed in others and very forgiving.”

Bill Ilnisky retired three years ago and while physically healthy for a late octogenarian, had some dementia. His wife still ran her prayer network and did Zoom calls.

When the pandemic hit last year, the couple took precautions, Milewski said. Her mother stayed home and had groceries delivered, but Bill Ilnisky occasionally went out.

“He couldn’t take it,” his daughter said. “He needed to be around people.”

Sarah Milewski and her husband visited her parents on Valentine’s Day, her mother’s birthday. A few days later, her mom became ill, and not long after the couple were diagnosed with the virus and hospitalized.

While the prognosis was initially good, the disease overtook them. The decision was made Feb. 27 to put them in hospice. Jacqueline Lopez-Devine, chief clinical officer at Trustbridge hospice, said in her 15 years working with the dying, no couple had arrived together. She said there was no hesitation about putting them in the same room for their final days.

Because of the virus, Milewski said her goodbyes through a window, a microphone carrying “I love you” to her parents’ bedside. They looked like they did when sleeping, her father lying on the right side, her mother facing him. He would nod as Milewski spoke; her mom tried to speak but couldn’t.

“It was horrible,” Milewski said.

At 10:15 a.m. on March 1, Esther Ilnisky died. Fifteen minutes later, her husband followed.

“They were always, always together,” Milewski said. “So in sync.”

Copyright © 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AP) —

The Mexican banks of the Suchiate river dawned Sunday with a heavy presence of immigration agents in place to enforce Mexico’s new limits on all but essential travel at its shared border with Guatemala.

Dozens of immigration agents lined the riverside asking those who landed on the giant innertube rafts that carry most of the cross-border traffic for documentation and turning many back.

But those turned away weren’t migrants, they were the small-time Guatemalan merchants and residents from Tecun Uman, across the river, who buy in bulk in Mexico to re-sell in Guatemala or purchase household items when the exchange rate favors it.

“They haven’t let us enter because they think we’re migrants when really we’re only coming to shop,” said Amalia Vázquez, a Guatemalan citizen with her baby tied to her back and seven other relatives accompanying her. Vázquez said her family travels the 100 kilometers monthly from Quetzaltenango to buy plastic items and sweets they re-sell at home.

After a negotiation, immigration agents allowed her sister and another relative to pass, but they had to leave their IDs with agents while they shopped. Nearby, other agents turned away a man who said he was just coming to buy his medicine.

The Mexican government has interrupted the usually free-flowing cross-river traffic here before, infuriating merchants on both sides. In recent years, as migrant caravans arrived in Tecun Uman, Mexican troops lined the Mexican side of the Suchiate and largely stopped the raft traffic.

The last time was in January 2020 when hundreds of soldiers blocked large groups of migrants trying to cross.

This time there is no large migrant presence across the river, but Mexico is again under pressure to slow the flow of migrants north as the U.S. government wrestles with growing numbers, especially of families and unaccompanied minors.

Many of those, however, are believed to be traveling with smugglers who can simply choose among the hundreds of unmonitored crossing points on Mexico’s long jungle borders with Guatemala and Belize.

The government said the measures that went into effect Sunday — one year into the pandemic — were aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. But most saw it as a cover to again try to control illegal migration and no one was talking about health concerns. The U.S. and Mexico have had a similar limit on non-essential travel on their shared border for a year, but Mexico is one of the few countries to otherwise not impose health restrictions on people entering the country by land or air.

“There’s no reason that this would help public health,” said Yuriria Salvador of the Fray Matías de Cordova Human Rights Center in Tapachula. ”It comes from the negotiation with the United States, it’s very clear.”

“What is going to happen is that they’ll be pushed more into secrecy and the trafficking of people,” Salvador said.

Juan José Ramírez, a Guatemalan who crosses to Mexico daily just upriver at the Talisman crossing, said he didn’t note any change Sunday at the port of entry.

“They only asked for my border visitor card, but the taking of the temperature and all of that, they stopped awhile ago,” he said. “It was only at the beginning (of the pandemic) when it was worse.”

The Mexican government last week also announced a new effort against the smuggling of families with minors. They said they would increase patrols in areas and checkpoints and use drones and night vision to watch crossing points.

On Saturday, Mexico’s immigration agency announced that authorities had detained 95 Central American and Cuban migrants who arrived by plane to the northern city of Monterrey. Among them were eight unaccompanied minors. The flights originated in southeast Mexican cities, Villahermosa and Cancun. Smugglers sometimes put migrants who can pay on such flights to avoid highway checkpoints in Mexico.

On Friday, hundreds of National Guard troops and immigration agents paraded through the capital of the southern state of Chiapas. On Sunday, few soldiers were visible along the river.

“It’s all a show,” said a woman with a sweets stand in the market, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation. “They don’t let the ones coming to buy pass, but the smugglers are very active.”

Mexico’s National Immigration Institute says smugglers are telling Central American migrants to bring children to improve their chances of entering Mexico and the United States.

The flow hasn’t reached early 2019 levels yet, but the U.S. government is worried by the rapid increase in illegal entries since last fall.

“It isn’t much that we take for reselling,” said María Vázquez, Amalia’s sister, while she negotiated the price of some cookies and her family waited by the river. “The migrants traveling in groups really harm us and the pandemic too. They never asked us for documentation.”

Copyright © 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

No surprise here: Max Scherzer will have the ball in his hands when he begins the final season of his seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

Scherzer will make his Nationals-record sixth opening day start April 1, facing the New York Mets in Washington. It’ll be a rematch of an exhibition mound matchup Sunday, when Scherzer allowed two homers and threw 90 pitches in five innings of a 6-2 loss to the Mets and starter Jacob deGrom in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“He’s the guy. He’s the guy that gets everything started for us,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said in explaining his decision to use Scherzer in Game 1 — which, of course, was the expected outcome.

“He competes. You know what we’re going to get from him,” Martinez said. “He loves opening day. So he’s a guy we want to follow opening day.”

It’s quite a way to get things going for Major League Baseball: three-time Cy Young Award winner Scherzer against two-time honoree deGrom.

As for the rest of his rotation, Martinez said he and new pitching coach Jim Hickey still need to figure out how to slot their other starters. There’s 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg and lefties Jon Lester and Patrick Corbin; the fifth starter is expected to be Joe Ross, who opted out of last season because of coronavirus concerns.

On Sunday, Scherzer allowed six hits and four earned runs, with a solo shot by Michael Conforto in the fourth and a two-run homer by Francisco Lindor in the fifth. Another run scored on a wild pitch.

Scherzer wasn’t too concerned by the results, of course. He said he was working on things, including trying a slide-step.

“You’re trying to get a read on their swings, how they’re trying to swing the bat, and realize they’re probably going to make adjustments, too,” said Scherzer, whose last outing before the games matter will come Saturday in a “B” game against the Houston Astros. “Just go at it, get your work in and get out of there. I’m just trying to get my pitches in.”

He also got an at-bat in. The original lineup released by Washington before the game featured a designated hitter; that was revised to include Scherzer batting for himself.

DeGrom struck him out, part of his 4 2/3 scoreless innings with three hits and five Ks.

“I haven’t been in the box in so long — probably a year, year-and-a-half — and then the first pitch is 100 (mph),” Scherzer said, then added with a laugh: “So welcome to the big leagues.”

Nationals reliever Tanner Rainey made his spring debut after dealing with a muscle strain near his collarbone. After striking out the first batter he faced, Pete Alonso, Rainey went walk-walk-walk and was done for the day.

Rainey said he still needs to work through some issues with where his arm is when he lands on his front foot.

“Obviously, timing wasn’t there. Not making the pitches I wanted to,” he said. “Best thing I can take from (it) is (I’m) healthy, pain-free.”

METS 6, NATIONALS 2

DeGrom kept up his strong spring. Through 13 2/3 innings, he’s struck out 21 and has an 0.66 ERA. Edwin Diaz and Dellin Betances each worked an inning of relief, retiring the side in order with a strikeout. Michael Conforto and Francisco Lindor homered.

PADRES 4, ANGELS 1

Shohei Ohtani started and batted leadoff, the first time he has pitched and hit for himself in a spring training or regular-season game with Los Angeles. He went 2 for 2 with a walk, raising his exhibition batting average to .636. On the mound, he allowed one run and two hits in four innings, striking out five.

Angels slugger Albert Pujols hit his first home run.

Blake Snell worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the start for San Diego, giving up two hits, walking two and striking out three. Mark Melancon worked 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief, striking out two. Brian O’Grady hit a leadoff triple in the first.

MARINERS 3, BREWERS 1

Seattle starter James Paxton struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings, allowing a run on two hits and a pair of walks. Keynan Middleton struck out the side in an inning of relief. Top outfield prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodríguez each hit their second home run.

Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta scattered five hits over 4 2/3 innings, allowing a run and striking out five.

YANKEES 8, BLUE JAYS 3

Gerritt Cole struck out eight in five innings, allowing one run in his fourth spring start for New York. Thairo Estrada homered.

Tanner Roark struck out Brett Gardner to start the game, then gave up four runs on four hits and a walk and was pulled for a reliever. Roark came back to work the next two innings and struggled. Marcus Semien homered off Cole and Teoscar Hernández homered later.

INDIANS 7, RANGERS 2

Cy Young winner Shane Bieber struck out six in four scoreless innings and César Hernández homered and drove in four runs. Franmil Reyes added a two-run homer for Cleveland.

Bieber allowed two hits and had command of all his pitches while gearing up for his opening day start at Detroit on April 1. The right-hander will have one more outing in spring training.

Hernández hit a two-run double as the Indians scored three unearned runs in the second off Texas starter Taylor Hearn. Hernández’s first homer this spring made it 7-0 in the sixth.

GIANTS 10, DODGERS 4

Looking to stage a comeback after not playing in the majors since 2016, Scott Kazmir started for San Francisco and allowed two hits, including Corey Seager’s home run, while striking out four of the six batters he retired. The 37-year-old lefty had pitched two innings earlier in spring training, giving up two runs.

Evan Longoria hit his fourth home run and Mike Yastrzemski hit his second. Zack Littell and James Sherfy each struck out the side in an inning of relief. Chadwick Tromp hit a grand slam in the seventh for the Giants.

Tony Gonsolin struck out five over 4 1/3 innings in the start for the Dodgers, allowing three runs.

CUBS 11, REDS 6

David Bote homered twice and drove in five runs for Chicago. Eric Sogard hit and leadoff home run and Jake Marisnick also connected. Starter Alec Mills worked 4 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits.

Kyle Farmer homered, doubled and singled for Cincinnati. Tyler Mahle gave up four hits in 3 2/3 innings, but three of them were home runs.

ROYALS 6, ROCKIES 1

Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela went 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. Lucas Gilbreath struck out the side in the eighth. Josh Fuentes homered and singled.

Jackson Kowar made his fifth appearance and second start for the Royals, turning in three scoreless innings. Jorge Soler hit his fourth home run and Ryan O’Hearn tripled. Whit Merrifield had two hits.

The Royals signed six-time All-Star catcher Salvador Pérez to the richest contract in club history, a four-year, $82 million deal that begins in 2022. The five-time Gold Glove winner turns 31 in May. He was the World Series MVP in 2015 when the club broke its 30-year title drought, and is coming off a season in which he hit .333 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs.

DIAMONDBACKS 4, WHITE SOX 4 (9 INNINGS)

Arizona starter Taylor Clarke worked four scoreless innings. allowing just two hits. Joe Mantiply struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth. Nick Ahmed hit a two-run homer.

Carlos Rodón yielded just one hit over his four-inning start for the White Sox, striking out five. Reynaldo López worked three innings in relief and gave up four runs on six hits and a pair of walks. Felix Paulino struck out the side in the ninth.

PIRATES 9, RED SOX 4

Wil Crowe made his first start for Pittsburgh, working 3 2/3 innings, giving up a run and four hits. Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer.

Boston starter Nick Pivetta was touched for six runs on six hits and three walks in four innings.

TWINS 12, ORIOLES 7

J.A. Happ worked the first three innings for Minnesota and allowed four runs and six hits. J.T. Riddle, Kyle Garlick and Willians Astudillo homered in the third inning, and Jorge Polanco, Caleb Hamilton and Trevor Larnach also connected.

Jorge López started for Baltimore and gave up three homers in 3 2/3 innings. Pedro Severino and Ryan Mountcastle homered for the Orioles.

TIGERS 5, PHILLIES 3

Akil Baddoo and Niko Goodrum each homered for Detroit. Starter Matt Manning allowed two runs on three hits in two innings and Michael Fulmer pitched three scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto was scheduled to make his spring debut after being sidelined by a broken right thumb, but was a late scratch by manager Joe Girardi because of “general soreness” after playing a simulated game Saturday. Chase Anderson gave up four runs and struck out five over his 3 2/3-inning start.

BRAVES 11, RAYS 1

Atlanta starter Max Fried gave up three hits and struck out five over six innings. Dansby Swanson hit his first spring homer and Ehire Adrianza doubled twice.

Ryan Yarbrough worked four innings in the start for the Rays, allowing five runs and five hits and striking out four. Ryan Boldt, a former second-round pick who missed the 2019 season with Tommy John surgery and didn’t play last year when the virus wiped out the minor league schedule, hit his second home run of the spring, going deep off Fried.

MARLINS 4, ASTROS 2

Miami starter Trevor Rogers began with four hitless inning and struck out six, then allowed a bunt single and a homer by Jeremy Pena in the fifth. Jazz Chisholm hit his third home run.

Zack Greinke gave up one earned run on five hits in 4 1/3 innings for Houston. Jeremy Peña homered.

___

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

Copyright © 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

LONDON (AP) — Britain said Saturday that half the country’s adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as the government races to reach everyone over age 18 by the end of July.

The National Health Service has put shots in the arms of 26.9 million people, or 51% of the adult population, according to the latest government statistics. The NHS passed the halfway point by delivering 589,689 first doses on Friday, the highest daily total since the mass vaccination program began in early December.

“It’s a huge success,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a video celebrating the milestone. “And I want to say many, many thanks to all those involved, including the half of all adults who have come forward. It’s so important because this vaccine is our way out of this pandemic.’’

The announcement followed the news from health authorities earlier this week that Britain would see a “significant reduction” in vaccine supplies next month. The NHS will continue during April to deliver first doses to those most at risk from COVID-19, along with 12 million second jabs, Hancock said Saturday.

In an effort to vaccinate as many people as possible, the U.K. decided to stretch the time between first and second doses to 12 weeks instead of four weeks as initially planned. Public health officials say the vaccines the country is using offer a high level of immunity after one shot, although two are needed for full protection.

Britain has delivered 44 doses of vaccine for every 100 people, more than any other country with a population of more than 10 million, according to data compiled by Oxford University. The United States is second at 35 doses per 100.

Even as Britain celebrates its success, there are growing concerns about the failure of wealthy countries to share scarce vaccine supplies with developing nations.

While Britain should be proud of its vaccination drive, it is time to start thinking about the rest of the world, said Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, a London-based health policy think tank.

Britain has acquired the rights to significantly more vaccine dose than it needs to treat the entire U.K. population, and it it is time to begin sharing that surplus with countries that are most in need, Farrar said in a statement released after Hancock’s announcement. Ensuring the world is vaccinated is a scientific and economic imperative, he said.

The government has secured the rights to a total of 457 million doses of eight vaccines. With 66.8 million people living in Britain, that’s enough to fully vaccinate the entire population three times over.

“If left to spread unchecked in large parts of the world, the virus risks mutating to an extent where our vaccines and treatments no longer work – leaving us all exposed,” Farrar said. “Science has given us the exit strategy, but it will only work if its benefits can reach the maximum number of people around the world.”

Wellcome is a co-founder of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is part of the effort to ensure equitable access to coronavirus vaccines around the world.

___

Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/hub/understanding-the-outbreak

Copyright © 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Carlos Carrasco’s experience being treated for leukemia taught him to put baseball injuries in perspective.

That’s why the New York Mets pitcher is taking in stride a hamstring injury that will cause him to start the season on the injured list.

“When somebody told you you had cancer, that’s completely different,” Carrasco said Saturday. “With the elbow a couple weeks ago, now this, like I said before, this is nothing for me, I can walk away from this.”

He injured his right hamstring during conditioning that followed him throwing batting practice Thursday. There was no indication anything was wrong until he felt a pop.

“I didn’t feel tightness, nothing like that,” he said.

Carrasco said the injury occurred on his seventh sprint. TheMets newcomer said the team didn’t give him a timetable for a return; injuries like this often take six to eight weeks to recover from.

A right-hander who turns 34 on Sunday, Carrasco has has not appeared any any exhibition games this year.

He got the coronavirus vaccine this winter, causing him to start spring training workouts behind other players. He then stopped throwing for a stretch because of elbow soreness.

Carrasco said he injured his left hamstring several years ago, probably in 2015.

“If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,” he said.

Then with Cleveland, Carrasco missed about three months in 2019 due to a treatable form of leukemia.

“The athlete that he is, the professional baseball player that he is, has been so successful in his career, and also have those battles along outside the playing field, watching him everyday how he goes about it, has been outstanding. It’s been an outstanding experience to be able to learn him,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said.

“It’s the third day now since he had the hamstring, and he was here — he was one of the first guys here today. You could tell that’s how he goes about this type of thing. I’m glad that he shared some of his experience battling bigger things before. And the way he’s seeing this, he’s just approaching the best way along with out medical staff,” he said.

New York opens April 1 at Washington and will be without Carrasco in a rotation projected to include two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker.

Rojas said David Peterson is the leading contender for the fourth slot. Left-hander Joey Lucchesi and Jordan Yamamoto are candidates for fifth starter along with a trio of non-roster pitchers: Jerad Eickhoff, Corey Oswalt and left-hander Mike Montgomery.

Carrasco pitched through the pandemic last year, going 3-4 in 12 starts with a 2.91 ERA, his best since a career-best 2.55 ERA when he split 2014 between Cleveland’s rotation and bullpen. He has an 88-73 career record with a 3.73 ERA.

He was traded by Cleveland with All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor on Jan. 7 for young infielders Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario and two minor league prospects, right-hander Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Green.

Carrasco is signed at $12 million for each of the next two seasons, part of a deal that includes a $14 million team option for 2023 with a $3 million buyout. The option would become guaranteed if he pitches 170 innings in 2022 and is found to be healthy for the 2023 season.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.