JAMES WILLIAMS

Why resisting distraction is one of the foundational challenges of this moment

International Orchestras Return This image provided by Carnegie Hall shows the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko on Jan. 31, 2022, at Carnegie Hall in New York. The Royal Philharmonic traveled with an orchestra manager, tour manager, three stage crew and six assistants, and filled Carnegie’s stage with 104 players. The tour concluded with performances in Fairfax, Virginia; New Brunswick, New Jersey, and finally its return to Carnegie Hall for the first time since 1997. “Cargo is one of the costs that have hit us hard this year,” said James Williams, the orchestra’s managing director. Williams says the Royal Philharmonic tour is proof concerts can proceed safely.

The Royal Philharmonic became the first international orchestra to tour the U.S. since February 2020, completing a 14-concert, nine-city U.S. tour at Carnegie Hall.

One of the men's attorneys told the judge that they have agreed to chose to be executed by firing squad as a way to delay their upcoming lethal injections.

Death Penalty-Oklahoma FILE - This Oct. 9, 2014, file photo shows the gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla. Two Oklahoma death row inmates facing executions in the coming months offered firing squad as a less problematic alternative to the state's three-drug lethal injection, one of their attorneys told a federal judge on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) (Sue Ogrocki)OKLAHOMA CITY — (AP) — Two men on Oklahoma's death row — at the prodding of a federal judge — agreed to choose execution by firing squad as a way to delay their upcoming lethal injections, one of their attorneys told the judge. More than two dozen death row inmates who are plaintiffs in the challenge agreed previously to provide the court with an alternative method of execution, including the use of different drug combinations or firing squad, which is one of several execution methods authorized under Oklahoma law. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections does not currently have execution protocols in place for any method other than lethal injection. Friot also heard testimony from Justin Farris, chief of operations at the Department of Corrections, about the recent lethal injections of death row inmates John Marion Grant and Bigler Stouffer late last year.

An attorney for two men on Oklahoma's death row says after a judge's prodding that his clients agreed to choose execution by firing squad as a way to delay their upcoming lethal injections.

Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle want a federal judge to delay their executions until a trial can be held on Oklahoma's three-drug lethal injection method.

Two Oklahoma death row inmates facing executions in the coming months offered firing squad as a less problematic alternative to the state's three-drug lethal injection, one of their attorneys told a federal judge on Monday. The two inmates — Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle — want U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot to grant them a temporary injunction that would delay their upcoming executions until a trial can be held over whether Oklahoma's three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional.

Fatal Police Shooting This still image taken from from Canton Police Department body camera video shows officers holding up their weapons before entering a house Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, in Canton, Ohio. James Williams, 46, of Canton, was shot in the chest and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. James Williams, 46, of Canton, was shot in the chest minutes into the new year and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The video shows the officer approach the tall privacy fence in a residential area as the sound of multiple gunshots ring out. After the shooting, the video shows another officer taking cover behind a cruiser and yelling, “Show me your (expletive) hands” after Marquetta Williams steps onto the front porch of the home.

Police in Ohio have released body camera footage showing an officer firing multiple rounds through a wooden privacy fence without warning at someone shooting gunfire into the air on the other side.

A physician testifying as an expert in a condemned Nevada inmate’s bid not to be put to death told a federal judge Thursday that execution by firing squad would be quick and “relatively painless.” Zane Michael Floyd's lawyers are required to offer an alternate method of execution while they ask U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II to rule Nevada's lethal injection plan unconstitutional.

Miami freshman Tyler Van Dyke threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns as the Hurricanes beat No. 17 Pittsburgh 38-34.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (Ahn Young-joon)SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is reporting 1,842 newly confirmed coronavirus cases for the previous 24 hours — setting a new pandemic single-day record for the second straight day. Health officials say they are discussing whether to extend the toughest distancing restrictions imposed on the densely populous Seoul metropolitan area. State health officials renewed their pleas for people to get vaccinated as Utah intensive care units reached 81.5% capacity. ___NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana health officials reported 5,388 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, the third-highest daily count since the start of the pandemic. Publicly employed nurses, doctors, social workers, custodians and registrars will be covered under the order from the city health commissioner.

State health officials renewed their pleas for people to get vaccinated as Utah intensive care units reached 81.5% capacity. ___NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana health officials reported 5,388 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, the third-highest daily count since the start of the pandemic. The Russian authorities have struggled to ramp up the country’s low vaccine uptake as coronavirus infections surged in recent weeks. Publicly employed nurses, doctors, social workers, custodians and registrars will be covered under the order from the city health commissioner. ___JOHANNESBURG — A South African firm will begin producing the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the first time the shot will be produced in Africa.

(Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP) (Nathan Papes)MISSION, Kan. — (AP) — COVID-19 cases nearly tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation that is straining hospitals, exhausting doctors and pushing clergy into the fray. Health officials blame the delta variant and slowing vaccination rates. In Louisiana, health officials reported 5,388 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday — the third-highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. As lead pastor of one of Missouri’s largest churches, Jeremy Johnson has heard the reasons congregants don’t want the COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, caseloads have been rising in the city for weeks, and health officials say the variant makes up about 7 in 10 cases they sequence.

(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) (Craig Ruttle)MISSION, Kan. — Coronavirus cases have tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation. The Russian authorities have struggled to ramp up the country’s low vaccine uptake as coronavirus infections surged in recent weeks. Russia’s state coronavirus task force has reported more than 6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and a total of 150,705 confirmed deaths in the pandemic. It notes the highest increases in COVID-19 cases were in the Western Pacific and European regions. In the past week, WHO says the highest coronavirus infections were in Indonesia, Britain, Brazil, India and the U.S.

(AP Photo/Kevin Hagen, File) (Kevin Hagen)MISSION, Kan. — (AP) — COVID-19 cases triple tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation that is straining hospitals, exhausting doctors and pushing clergy into the fray. Health officials blame the delta variant and slowing vaccination rates. As lead pastor of one of Missouri’s largest churches, Jeremy Johnson has heard the reasons congregants don’t want the COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, caseloads have been rising in the city for weeks, and health officials say the variant makes up about 7 in 10 cases they sequence. In Louisiana, health officials reported 5,388 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday and said it’s the third-highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020.

COVID-19 cases have nearly tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation.

COVID-19 cases tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation that is straining hospitals, exhausting doctors and pushing clergy into the fray. “Our staff, they are frustrated," said Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at UF Health Jacksonville, which is canceling elective surgeries and procedures after the number of mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 inpatients at its two campuses jumped to 134, up from a low of 16 in mid-May. Across the U.S., the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. rose over the past two weeks to more than 37,000 on Tuesday, up from less than 13,700 on July 6, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The pandemic, though, is a nightmare -- one that has now claimed 300,000 lives in the U.S. and counting. It just represents a moral failing.”The U.S. accounts for nearly 1 out of 5 confirmed virus deaths worldwide, far more than any other country despite its wealth and medical resources. While the pandemic’s toll continues to soar, much has changed since the U.S. surpassed 200,000 deaths in late September. If a second vaccine is authorized soon, as expected, 20 million people could be vaccinated by month’s end. “I’m sorry, it still gets me,” a distraught Williams said Friday, hours before the first vaccine won approval.