Agency: Gender surgery on kids abuse
HOUSTON -- A Texas agency has ruled that the "genital mutilation" of a child for purposes of gender confirmation, a surgery almost never performed on minors, should be considered child abuse.
The state Department of Family and Protective Services made the determination Wednesday per Gov. Greg Abbott's request, according to the Houston Chronicle.
In its declaration, the agency agreed with Abbott's redefinition of gender-confirming surgery as a form of genital mutilation.
"As you have described, this surgical procedure physically alters a child's genitalia for non-medical purposes potentially inflicting irreversible harm to children's bodies," the department stated. The agency made exception for surgeries it deems "medically necessary," including procedures to correct what it calls "medically verifiable genetic disorders of sex development."
Abbott said the agency's ruling was effective immediately, meaning doctors, nurses, teachers, day care employees, and other professionals who work with children are now required to inform the department within 48 hours if they have reason to believe a child has or may undergo gender-confirming surgery.
The department will also be duty-bound to investigate parents and medical practitioners who perform the surgeries.
Tropical storm watch issued in Florida
A tropical storm watch has been issued for the Florida Keys and the southwest coast of Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday.
Forecasters are expecting Fred to be near the Florida Keys on Saturday. The hurricane center said a tropical storm watch is in effect for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, and for the southwest coast of the Florida Peninsula from Bonita Beach south and east to Ocean Reef said.
Heavy rains continued to pound Hispaniola, which the two nations share, on Thursday. Fred was expected to drench Cuba and the Bahamas late Thursday. The main threat to the U.S. appears to be heavy rains affecting Florida and parts of the Southeast starting today, according to the hurricane center.
The Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph Thursday evening while centered north of Cuba's eastern tip.
Already a tropical storm, Fred, the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, weakened back to depression force by its spin over Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where it knocked out power to some 400,000 customers and caused flooding that forced officials to shut down part of the country's aqueduct system, interrupting water service for hundreds of thousands of people.
$120M floated for collapsed condo site
MIAMI -- A private bidder is willing to offer up to $120 million to purchase the Miami-area oceanfront property where the collapsed Champlain Towers South building once stood.
The offer was revealed Wednesday during a hearing before Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the dozens of lawsuits that have been filed since the condominium collapsed June 24, killing 98 people. Officials are still trying to determine what caused the building to collapse.
The judge authorized negotiation of an agreement with the bidder, who was not publicly identified. A real estate broker told the judge he had a "letter of interest" from the bidder that offered $110 million for the property, the Miami Herald reported.
"They're willing to go to $120 million," said Michael Fay, who has been appointed to work on the real estate deal.
While some families had hoped that the government would purchase the property to turn it into a park or a memorial site to honor the victims, Manny Kadre, a lawyer who is serving as a liaison between the court and elected leaders, said that appears "very highly unlikely."
203 covid-19 cases tied to Lollapalooza
CHICAGO -- Chicago health officials Thursday reported 203 cases of covid-19 connected to Lollapalooza, casting it as a number that was anticipated and not yet linked to any hospitalizations or deaths.
"Nothing unexpected here," Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said at a news conference. "No sign of a 'superspreader event.' But clearly with hundreds of thousands of people attending Lollapalooza we would expect to see some cases."
The four-day music festival, which started two weeks ago, drew about 385,000 people to a lakefront park. Critics questioned holding the event during the pandemic. Footage showed tightly packed crowds at concerts and on public transportation with few masks in sight. Last year's festival was canceled because of covid-19.
Festival-goers had to show proof of vaccination or negative covid-19 tests, and city officials said about 90% were vaccinated.
Among those who tested positive, city officials said 138 were Illinois residents from outside Chicago, 58 were from the city and seven were from out of state. Nearly 80% of those who tested positive were under 30, and about 62% were white, Arwady said.