Pennsylvania
Pregnant nurse fired over refusing flu shot
LANCASTER, Pa. – A pregnant woman who refused to get a flu shot because of her fear of miscarrying has been fired from her job with a health-care company.
Dreonna Breton worked as a registered nurse for Horizons Healthcare Services in central Pennsylvania. The company requires all personnel to get the influenza vaccine.
She contends the immunizations may not be safe enough for pregnant women. She suffered two miscarriages earlier this year and doesn’t want to risk a third.
Company spokesman Alan Peterson says it’s unconscionable for a health-care worker not to be immunized. He also says pregnant women are more susceptible to the flu.
Breton offered to wear a mask during flu season. But the 29-year-old was fired nonetheless on Dec. 17.
Former Penn State officials may be off the hook
HARRISBURG, Pa. – A legal ruling reversing the landmark conviction of a Roman Catholic priest might have implications for the criminal case against three former Penn State administrators.
Lawyers for the university officials charged in the Jerry Sandusky scandal say child endangerment counts could be dropped because of the Superior Court’s decision.
Judges ruled Thursday that Monsignor William Lynn should not have been retroactively charged under a 2007 child endangerment law for alleged actions that occurred in 1990s. Prosecutors say he shuffled predator priests among parishes in Philadelphia.
The former university officials are charged under the same law with endangering children for allegedly not reporting a molestation claim against Sandusky in 2001.
New York
Bill De Blasio to be sworn in by Bill Clinton
NEW YORK – Bill de Blasio will be sworn in as mayor of New York City by former President Bill Clinton.
The Democrat will be inaugurated as the 109th mayor of the nation’s largest city during a ceremony Wednesday on the City Hall steps.
De Blasio worked in Clinton’s administration in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Clinton will use a Bible once owned by another former president, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The de Blasio transition team says former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also will attend the New Year’s Day ceremony; he had managed her successful 2000 Senate campaign.
De Blasio is succeeding Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is leaving office after three terms.
wyoming
Separate avalanches kill 2 within hours
JACKSON, Wyo. – An Idaho man died in an avalanche while snowmobiling in Wyoming’s Jackson area – the second person killed by a slide within two hours, authorities said.
Rex J. Anderson of Arco, Idaho, was killed Thursday while snowmobiling in Waterfall Canyon near the Idaho border, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported.
The slide occurred less than two hours after 29-year-old Jackson resident Michael Kazanjy was killed by an avalanche while he was skiing a slope known as Pucker Face.
Anderson, 39, was with three other snowmobilers when he was buried by the slide, the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center said.
His companions were not caught in the slide. They found him with the help of his avalanche beacon and dug him out within 10 minutes but could not revive him, authorities said.
Associated Press
