Month: September 2025

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday to defend his recent overhaul of leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and his decisions regarding federal vaccine policy. RFK Jr. faced questions on his record in office, the Trump administration’s policies on vaccines and the recent ouster of top officials at the CDC.

Susan Monarez, who had been appointed CDC director less than a month earlier, was removed from her role in August after declining to resign when asked by the White House. Her departure followed the resignations of four additional senior CDC officials who reportedly opposed Kennedy’s approach to vaccines. In another sweeping move, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing many with individuals skeptical of vaccines. He said these steps were necessary to restore credibility to the agency.

Kennedy defended the CDC shake-up throughout the hearing, saying changes at the health agency were “absolutely necessary” because of how it performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also denied pressuring the former director to pre-approve upcoming vaccine recommendations from a panel whose members he replaced, and accused her of lying about why she was fired. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pressed Kennedy on the issue. “So she’s lying to the American people in The Wall Street Journal?” Wyden asked.  Kennedy replied, “Yes, sir.”

Kennedy told lawmakers that “the CDC failed Americans during COVID-19. The officials who pushed for school closures and forced masks on children are the ones who will no longer be making those decisions. These were essential changes to return the CDC to its mission of protecting people from infectious diseases.”

Senators also challenged Kennedy on his stance toward mRNA vaccines, his understanding of COVID-19 death tolls, and concerns about Medicaid funding losses throughout the hearing.  Sen. Wyden sharply criticized Kennedy’s testimony, accusing him of undermining public health. “Every day there’s a new decision that puts American families at risk,” Wyden said. “Robert Kennedy has elevated conspiracy theorists and grifters to positions where they’re making life-or-death calls about people’s healthcare. He has no business anywhere near this job.”

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Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91 in Milan, Italy.

The Armani Group announced in a statement posted to the designer’s Instagram: “With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani. Il Signor Armani, as he was always respectfully and admiringly called by employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing and future projects ..Today, with deep emotion, we feel the void left by the one who founded and nurtured this family with vision, passion, and dedication. But it is precisely in his spirit that we, the employees and the family members who have always worked alongside Mr. Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory, with respect, responsibility and love.”

Armani was born on July 11, 1934, in Piacenza, Italy and originally studied medicine at the university level for three years until he left to serve his two required years of military service in Italy. at a department store in Milan as a window dresser for La Rinascente department store. He moved up to work as a buyer before venturing into design in the mid-’60s, working for designer Nino Cerruti.

Armani met architect Sergio Galeotti while working for Cerruti, and the pair became romantic and business partners. The two co-founded the Giorgio Armani brand in 1975, with their first collection stocked at Barney’s New York in 1976, followed by a womenswear collection. Armani became synonymous with luxury and status after one of the brand’s suits was sported by Richard Gere in the 1980 film American Gigolo.. Armani became the sole shareholder of his company following Galeotti’s death in 1985 from complications linked to AIDS.

Armani’s death follows his absence from his brand’s show during Men’s Fashion Week in Milan, marking the first time he was not present to take a bow at the end of the presentation. The company said at the time that Armani was “recovering at home from an undisclosed condition,” but no further details were provided.

Armani is survived by his sister, nieces and nephew. A funeral chamber will be open to the public from Saturday, Sept. 6, to Sunday, Sept. 7, at Milan’s Armani Teatro; with a private funeral held afterwards, per the designer’s wishes.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo have announced that they will work to phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the state.

Ladapo declared at a press conference, “every single one of them. They’re all wrong,” which drew a standing ovation from the audience. Ladapo questioned the government’s authority to make personal health decisions, saying “who am I—or anyone else—to tell you what has to go into your body? Who am I to say what your child must take? That’s not my right.”

Ladapo described mandates as an “immoral” intrusion on people’s rights bordering on “slavery,” and hampers parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children. He said: “People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions. They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”

The Florida Department of Health will move forward on this plan in coordination with the governor’s office, according to Ladapo, adding that the state Health Department can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, but others would require action by the Florida Legislature.

Currently, Florida law requires children attending public schools to be vaccinated against several diseases, with those guidelines listed on the state health department’s website. Ladapo emphasized, however, that the state is not banning vaccines: “If you choose to get vaccinated, that’s your decision, and I hope it’s an informed one. If you choose not to, that’s also your decision. That’s how it should be.”

Gov. DeSantis also announced on Wednesday the creation of a state-level “Make America Healthy Again” commission modeled after similar initiatives launched at the federal level by President Trump, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The commission will be led by First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, with members including Ladapo, Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris, and Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch. According to DeSantis, the commission will “prioritize reforms that give Floridians more control over their health, cut red tape, hold bad actors accountable, and promote healthier lifestyles and innovation.”

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A New York judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors can present DNA evidence they say connects Rex Heuermann, the suspect accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer, to six of the seven women he is charged with murdering.

Suffolk County Judge Tim Mazzei made his ruling that prosecutors can use DNA evidence generated by Astrea Forensics in their case against Rex Heuermann. Astrea Forensics uses new techniques to analyze old and highly degraded DNA samples, like the ones collected from the bodies of the victims. Defense attorneys had fought to block the evidence, arguing that it was obtained through a relatively new method called whole genome sequencing, which had never before been admitted in a New York courtroom; however, prosecutors have said they have a trove of other evidence, including a “blueprint” for the killings and cellphone tracking data, that ties Heuermann to the case.

The defense quickly filed a motion on new grounds in an effort to block the evidence. saying the DNA evidence violates New York public health law that states a for-profit lab cannot submit evidence in criminal cases in the state. Prosecutors countered that the approach is rooted in widely recognized scientific principles. In filings ahead of previous court hearings, they said the defense request to dismiss the evidence should be denied because the method is “well established in the scientific community” and already applied in a range of forensic and research fields.

Heuermann, a New York City architect, was arrested in July 2023 and charged with the killings of three women: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Their bodies were among 10 found along Long Island’s Gilgo Beach when police set out in 2010 to search for Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old aspiring actress from New Jersey.

In 2024, Heuermann was charged with the killings of four more women: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla and Valerie Mack.  He has pleaded not guilty to killing seven women whose bodies were discovered on Long Island between 1993 and 2011, several of them along Gilgo Beach.

The defense had specifically sought to exclude DNA evidence from hairs recovered from six of the victims: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, and Valerie Mack. Investigators say they also discovered newspaper and magazine clippings about the Gilgo Beach murders inside his Massapequa Park home.

Prosecutors previously said that hairs found on some of the victims matched Heuermann’s family members through mitochondrial DNA testing, linking them to his wife and daughter. The defense is still awaiting a separate decision on its request to split the charges into multiple trials. Judge Mazzei said he expects to rule on that motion at the next hearing, scheduled for September 23.

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Authorities have filed murder charges against a man accused of fatally shooting an 11-year-old boy who had been ringing doorbells with friends as part of a prank.

The suspect, Leon Gonzalo Jr., was arrested and booked at the Harris County Jail on Tuesday morning and charged with one count of murder, according to Harris County court records.

According to the Houston Police Department, the incident happened around 10:55 p.m. on August 30, at a home in the 9700 block of Mimbrough in southeast Houston. Police said a group of children were playing “ding-dong ditch,” a game where kids knock on doors and run away, when someone stepped outside and began firing at them as they scattered.

The victim and at least two of his friends had been going around their neighborhood banging on or kicking doors and running away. Sgt. Michael Cass with the Houston Police Department’s homicide division said that “officers were told the male was ringing doorbells of homes in the area and running away. A witness stated the male was running from a house, after ringing the doorbell, just prior to suffering a gunshot wound. A witness reported that a person came out of the home and started shooting at the kids as they ran down the street. Tragically, one of them—an 11-year-old boy—was hit in the back.”

Cass said the preliminary information indicates that the victims and his friends ran down the street after banging on the suspect’s door. The boy was rushed to a hospital but died from his injuries on Sunday afternoon, with the victim was identified on Tuesday as 11-year-old Julian Guzman; police said the boy lived about a block from the home.

The prank is similar to what’s being dubbed the “door-kicking challenge,” a TikTok trend based on an old prank called “ding dong ditch,” in which groups of kids record videos of themselves kicking and banging on doors of homes and apartments before running away and then posting the videos on social media.

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