Karen Zraick

While it was only a short test flight — less than 3 miles in total — the team that created the drone at the University of Maryland says it was a worldwide first and a crucial step in its quest to speed up the delicate and time-sensitive task of delivering donated organs.

The team’s leader, Dr. Joseph R. Scalea, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said he pursued the project after constant frustration over organs taking too long to reach his patients. After organs are removed from a donor, they become less healthy with each passing second. He recalled one case when a kidney from Alabama took 29 hours to reach his hospital.

“Had I put that in at nine hours, the patient would probably have another several years of life,” Scalea said Tuesday. “Why can’t we get that right?”

To carry out the project, Scalea’s team of medical experts worked with colleagues in aviation and engineering at the university, as well as the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, which oversees organ donations. He performed the transplant along with two other surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Dr. Rolf N. Barth and Dr. Talal Al-Qaoud.

The woman who received the kidney, Trina Glispy, a 44-year-old nursing assistant from Baltimore, said she had begun to lose hope before she got a call on April 18, when she learned she had matched with a donor.

Glispy, who has three children, had discovered her kidneys were failing in 2011, when a patient kicked her at work and her leg swelled dramatically. She started on dialysis three times a week, for four hours each time, draining her energy. It became hard to do the physical labor required at her job at a Veterans Affairs hospital, which she had loved.

So she was thrilled and relieved when she got the call, fittingly, during a dialysis session. The surgery went smoothly, and 11 days later, Glispy said she was doing well. She expressed gratitude as she recalled her worst fears during her years of treatment.

“I feel very fortunate, especially after watching so many people pass being on dialysis,” she said. “I’m seeing a lot of people die and I’m like, ‘It’s taking so long, it might not happen for me either.’”

Dialysis can be taxing on the body and does not cure kidney disease. Life expectancy for patients on dialysis varies greatly, but the average is five to 10 years, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Kidney transplants can improve life expectancy and quality of life, but many people who get one eventually need another.

The United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the American transplant system, says that although the need for organs still far exceeds supply, donations are at historic highs. From January to March, 9,500 transplants were performed, from 4,500 donors.

But there are still about 75,000 people who are cleared to have surgery and are waiting for organ donations. Including those not currently eligible for surgery, more than 113,000 people are waiting for organs.

The shortage of organs has lethal consequences. In 2017, the agency said, more than 6,500 candidates died while on the waitlist, or within 30 days of leaving the list for personal or medical reasons without receiving a transplant. That makes the notion of an organ becoming less healthy during transit all the more galling, Scalea said.

The drone used had backup propellers and motors, dual batteries and a parachute recovery system, to guard against catastrophe if one component encountered a problem 400 feet in the air. Two pilots on the ground monitored it using a wireless network, and were prepared to override the automated flight plan in case of emergency. The drone also had built-in devices to measure temperature, barometric pressure and vibrations, among other indicators.

Scalea called the flight “proof of concept that this broken system can be innovated.”

He added that current organ transport is “data-blind,” meaning doctors often cannot see an organ’s progress in transit. The drone allows timely updates on its progress, the way you might track an approaching taxi on your phone.

“We can monitor in real time,” Scalea said. “It’s like Uber for organs.”

The drone flew over 700 hours in 44 test flights before this journey, he added. The exercise allowed the team to overcome logistical and regulatory hurdles involved in transporting a viable organ, and it will now focus on flying “farther and faster,” he said.

Dr. Christopher Marsh, director of the transplant program at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, California, and a member of the American Society of Transplantation, said it was too early to pass judgment on the reliability of delivering organs by drone. But surgeons would be keeping a close eye on developments, he said.

Marsh, who was not affiliated with the test, noted that the technology could be helpful to avoid traffic in big cities.

“We’re entering a new world,” he said. “Things change, so we have to be open to that.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/health/drone-delivers-kidney.html" id="fa3b780b-55e6-3fe0-a9a1-cfc00c8305f8">The New York Times</a>.

A custom-made drone delivered a kidney recently to a Maryland woman who had waited eight years for a lifesaving transplant.

Like 'Uber for Organs': Drone Delivers Kidney to Maryland Woman

The Bible was among hundreds of rare books, maps and other items, worth about $8 million in total, that the authorities have said were stolen by the archivist in charge of the collection over nearly 20 years.

Prosecutors say the archivist, Gregory Priore, 62, sometimes walked out of the building with the items in plain sight. He then sold the works to a prominent book dealer, John Schulman, 55, whose shop was a block away and who had appeared as an expert appraiser on the television show “Antiques Roadshow,” according to an affidavit.

The two men were charged last year with numerous counts of theft, conspiracy and other charges, and await trial. Robert G. Del Greco Jr., a lawyer for Schulman, said his client maintained his innocence, but declined to comment otherwise. A lawyer for Priore did not immediately return a call on Friday.

FBI officials said they had given the Bible to the office of the Allegheny County district attorney, Stephen A. Zappala Jr., who is prosecuting the case and will use the Bible as evidence.

The Bible is similar to one known to have been carried to North America by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, Robert Jones, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said at a news conference Thursday.

“One can only imagine the journey this particular Carnegie Library Bible has taken,” Jones said.

Using sales records, investigators last year traced the Bible to a museum focused on American pilgrims in Leiden, Netherlands, said the museum’s director, Jeremy Bangs.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the district attorney, said the museum bought the Bible in 2015 through a private seller for $1,200, and that it was currently appraised at $5,500.

Bangs, an American historian who has lived in the Netherlands for decades, said he had acquired the Bible from a reputable seller for exhibitions, scheduled to take place in 2020 and 2021 in Massachusetts, on the books that Pilgrims owned.

The Bible was translated by English Protestant exiles in Geneva during the reign of Queen Mary Tudor, the museum’s site notes. It is also called a “Breeches Bible” because of its unusual translation in Genesis 3:7 — “Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knewe that they were naked, and they sewed figtree leaues together, and made themselues breeches,” the site states. The King James Bible does not use the word “breeches.”

An addition to the book’s cover, which Bangs said was most likely made in the 19th century, reads “Holy Bible —- Breeches Edition.” It is weathered, with evidence of mold on some pages, and loose binding.

Bangs said that investigators initially contacted him last year and asked him to mail the Bible back. Given its delicate condition, he questioned whether the request was real, he said.

After learning more about the Pittsburgh case, Bangs said he contacted the Dutch police, who assigned an investigator trained in handling artwork to take possession of the Bible and transport it to the U.S. Embassy. The FBI said its own Art Crime Team helped to bring the Bible back to the United States, covered in Bubble Wrap and nestled in a protective container.

Manko said investigators were making progress in recovering other works as well. An initial search turned up 24 items, and 18 “cannibalized” or partial items, from a warehouse. Since then, investigators have recovered 18 books and 293 maps, plates and pamphlets, worth about $1.6 million, he said.

The case has shocked the rare-book world. Until the theft was discovered and Priore was fired in 2017, he had been the sole archivist for the collection of rare books in the Oliver Room at the Carnegie Library, which is Pittsburgh’s public library system. Schulman was a respected member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. The organization said he once led its ethics committee.

Over the years, Priore would carry items out of the library and drop them off at the shop, the affidavit states. Priore sometimes used an X-acto knife to remove part of a book and sell it individually, prosecutors contend. The affidavit states that Schulman paid Priore up front and then resold many of the items.

Priore said he needed the money to “stay afloat” and pay tuition for his four children, and accused Schulman of spurring him on, the affidavit shows.

“I should never have done this,” he told investigators. “I loved that room, my whole working life, and greed came over me.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/us/geneva-bible.html" id="a97b48c0-ec50-347b-a999-b3afca04fe04">The New York Times</a>.

400-Year-Old Bible Stolen From Pittsburgh Library Is Recovered in the Netherlands

A 1615 Geneva Bible stolen two decades ago from the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh in a long-running theft scheme has been recovered from a Dutch museum, the FBI announced Thursday.

The first case involved Sgt. Robert Stamm of the Virginia Division of Capitol Police, who had been assigned to protests calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to resign over a racist yearbook photo that surfaced in February.

Anti-Fascists of the Seven Hills, which said it was based in Richmond, Virginia, wrote online in February that Stamm came to its attention because he had a large Band-Aid covering his neck while patrolling. The group found photos on social media of Stamm with tattoos, flags and banners that used white supremacist symbols and images, it said in a blog post.

It also said he was linked to the Asatru Folk Assembly, an extremist group that invokes pre-Christian Nordic religion and culture and has spread through the Virginia jail system. In 2015, the FBI foiled a plot by members of the group to attack black churches and synagogues as part of a plan to incite a race war in the Chesterfield area.

Stamm was suspended after the group published its post. On Wednesday, Col. Anthony Pike, the Capitol Police chief, announced in a statement that Stamm had been “separated from his employment.” He did not explain what had led to the firing.

In the second case, Daniel Morley, a school resource officer with the Chesterfield County Police Department, was fired Thursday following an investigation into allegations that he was affiliated with the group Identity Evropa, also known as the American Identity Movement. Members of that group helped plan the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Antifa Seven Hills had identified Morley as a “pledge coordinator” for the group, which recruits on college campuses and elsewhere. Antifa said Morley was responsible “for guiding new applicants through the vetting process” and had been a member since 2017.

Morley was suspended in March while the department investigated the claims. Col. Jeffrey Katz, the police chief, wrote on social media Thursday that investigators had authenticated the online postings and activities.

“The views espoused by and attributed to Mr. Morley violate county and departmental policy and our organizational values; his continued employment is antithetical to the expectations of our personnel and those we serve,” he wrote.

The anti-fascist group also alleged that Stamm and Morley knew each other, and in March it posted what it said was a photo of the two together.

Efforts to reach both men Thursday night were unsuccessful.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/us/white-nationalists-virginia-police.html" id="cf9eacd3-a34a-3d78-aa4a-9c2927af34c8">The New York Times</a>.

Two Virginia police officers who worked for different agencies were fired this week after an anti-fascist group linked them to white nationalist organizations.

2 Virginia Police Officers Are Fired Amid Allegations of Links to White Nationalists

The footage appeared to have been shot two years earlier, on Jan. 1, 2015, hours after the couple had hosted a New Year’s party at their Minnesota home. It showed her husband forcibly penetrating her with an object as she slept in their bed, their 4-year-old son asleep beside her, according to a criminal complaint. She was motionless as he attacked her. She believes she had been drugged.

Teeson, now 39, told the police about the video when she found it. But under a state law known as the “voluntary relationship defense,” some of the most serious sex crimes charges cannot be brought against an accuser’s spouse or domestic partner. Her husband ended up being charged with a misdemeanor, not a felony.

While marital rape has been a crime in all 50 states since 1993 — a milestone achieved after years of dogged campaigning by women’s rights activists — the overwhelming majority of states still have loopholes on the books that can make it difficult, or even impossible, to prosecute such cases, according to data compiled by AEquitas, a nonprofit in Washington that assists prosecutors in gender-based violence cases.

Those loopholes can take many forms, involving the statute of limitations, use of force, age or the victim’s capacity to consent. In Minnesota, sex with someone who is physically helpless, as Teeson was, cannot be prosecuted as rape if the two people are married or domestic partners.

Though she was devastated to learn of the arcane law in Minnesota, Teeson quickly threw herself into the fight to change it, meeting with lawmakers and testifying at the state Capitol.

In February, her campaign scored a major victory. A bill to repeal the voluntary relationship defense unanimously passed the state House. Lawmakers gave Teeson a standing ovation.

“It felt very powerful to be able to speak because I’ve been silent for so long,” she said.

The bill is now making its way through the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sen. Michelle Benson, a Republican. The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill before the summer recess begins May 21. A spokeswoman for Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said he would sign it if it passes.

Rep. Zack Stephenson, a Democrat and the chief author of the House bill, credited Teeson as the driving force behind the legislation. He is a local prosecutor, and he said he was “flabbergasted” when he heard her story.

“This is not a controversial issue,” Stephenson said. “It’s something that should have happened a long time ago.”

The fight to criminalize marital rape stretches back decades

While the issue of marital rape came up as early as the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, it was eclipsed by the push for voting rights, said Lynn Hecht Schafran, director of the National Judicial Education Program at Legal Momentum, a women’s legal defense organization.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that women’s rights activists started campaigning for states to criminalize marital rape, a difficult goal in male-dominated state legislatures. By 1993, they had succeeded in all 50 states, though the laws and legal precedents vary widely.

Laura X, a Berkeley-based activist who worked on campaigns in dozens of states as director of the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape, said activists were fighting against the notion that men were somehow entitled to their partner’s bodies.

“It was a principle that nobody should own another person that drove most of us through those decades,” she said.

American statutes on marital rape were carried over from English laws, which drew on writings by the 17th-century jurist Matthew Hale on “contractual consent.” Schafran said they were tied to the notion that rape by an intimate partner was somehow less painful.

“In fact, the opposite is true,” she said. “The loss of trust is devastating.”

Hurdles to prosecution persist in most states

AEquitas, which maintains a comprehensive database on marital rape laws, said hurdles to prosecuting sexual misconduct involving spouses or partners existed in 41 of 58 jurisdictions it reviewed. Those include the 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and federal and military law.

That is piled on top of the difficulties of prosecuting intimate partner rape at all. Cases are rarely reported, there are often no witnesses, and many victims struggle with testifying against a former partner.

Yet many instances of sexual violence occur within intimate relationships. An estimated 9 percent of women are raped by an intimate partner at some point, and an estimated 16 percent experience other forms of sexual violence by their partner, according to federal data.

“It’s long overdue to treat rape in the marital setting with the same seriousness as rape that occurs outside of it,” said Sunu Chandy, legal director for the National Women’s Law Center.

“I’m glad to see Minnesota is making strides in that direction, and I hope other states will follow suit.”

A stark illustration of the problem

In March 2017, Teeson discovered a trove of videos that her husband had secretly filmed. They included clips of her getting dressed, of the two of them having sex, and of his co-workers in the bathroom, she said.

The files, which she had found on an unfamiliar flash drive, shocked and terrified her, but they also gave her some much-needed clarity: She had to seek a divorce from her husband, Matthew Charles Heger.

The couple had started dating in college and were married for 12 years. She worked for a hospitality sales association, and he worked at a local bank. They had two young children.

Yet while they may have looked happy to outsiders, her husband had been verbally abusive and had tried to pressure her into sex acts she wasn’t comfortable with, Teeson said.

Heger’s lawyer, Nicole A. Kettwick, said that while he feels remorse over the videos, he disputes Teeson’s characterization of their marriage.

Teeson turned the flash drive and the family’s laptop over to the police. A few months later, as part of the divorce proceedings, her lawyers recommended that she review a copy of the laptop’s contents herself. That was when she discovered the video of herself being assaulted.

Teeson said she had to call the police repeatedly before she could get an appointment to give her statement. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said he could not discuss the handling of the case.

In September 2017, Teeson got the call she had been waiting for from the Anoka County Attorney’s Office. She was told that Heger had been charged with a felony count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. She felt mixed emotions, including a sense of safety.

But hours later, the office called again, to tell her that the felony charge had been dropped. Heger’s lawyers had made the office aware that Minnesota still had a little-known marital rape exemption law on the books.

Heger was ultimately charged with two misdemeanors in Teeson’s case: criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree and interference with privacy at home using a surreptitious device. He pleaded guilty to the latter in October and was sentenced to 45 days in prison. The sexual conduct charge was dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

Heger was separately sentenced to 30 days in prison on charges related to the tapes of his co-workers. He received a total of four years of probation and had restrictions placed on his online activities, among other conditions.

Paul Young, chief of the criminal division at the Anoka County Attorney’s Office, said he and his colleagues were taken aback when they learned the statute would prevent them from pursuing the original charges.

“We understand the frustration and disappointment,” Young said, adding that the case “certainly merited” more serious charges.

“But we were limited,” he said.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/us/marital-rape-law-minnesota.html" id="f8d7088c-0389-3320-a203-d64d4d47a9f1">The New York Times</a>.

Inside One Woman's Fight to Rewrite the Law on Marital Rape

Jenny Teeson was in the middle of a divorce when she found a video of her husband sexually assaulting her in her sleep. The discovery turned her into a leading advocate for overturning archaic laws that can make it nearly impossible to prosecute men for marital rape.

The women, who had not previously spoken publicly about the accusations, gave their accounts at a news conference in New York organized by their lawyer, Gloria Allred.

The two women, Latresa Scaff, 40, and Rochelle Washington, 39, both of Maryland, said they met the singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly and who has faced sexual abuse accusations going back decades, after a concert in Baltimore in 1995 or 1996.

Kelly had performed with LL Cool J at an arena in the city. The two teenagers, who were about 16 and 15 at the time, bought tickets to the concert and an after-party at a nearby nightclub, they said.

Allred showed photos of the two women that they said were taken that night. They had dressed up and were smiling broadly as they posed with LL Cool J and in front of a backdrop emblazoned with Kelly’s visage.

At the after-party, Kelly pointed to the girls and asked his security guards to bring them to the stage, the women said. They were offered drugs and alcohol, and Kelly’s staff members paid for a taxi to take them back to his hotel, Scaff said.

While waiting for Kelly to arrive in a hotel suite, the girls were so excited that they called a local radio station to tell them they were with R. Kelly, Scaff said. They went on live radio and “many people heard us,” she added.

Kelly entered the room a short while later with his penis exposed and asked the girls to dance, Scaff said. He asked for a threesome, the women said, and Rochelle, who was younger, said she would not participate and went into the bathroom.

Kelly then asked Scaff to perform oral sex, and had sex with her, she said. She was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time, she added.

Afterward, neither girl saw Kelly again.

“I am speaking out because I want to encourage other victims who I know must be out there to come forward as well,” Scaff said.

A lawyer for Kelly did not immediately return a call and email requesting comment.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/arts/music/r-kelly-sexual-abuse-misconduct.html" id="c9838142-e29a-3ed2-a01c-500020445c1d">The New York Times</a>.

Two additional women came forward Thursday to accuse R&amp;B; star R. Kelly of sexual abuse and misconduct while they were minors.

R. Kelly Is Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Two More Women

Afterward, neither girl saw Kelly again. Scaff said she told friends about what had happened, and Washington told her mother.

“When I first met R. Kelly that night, I was very happy and excited because I was young and star-struck,” Scaff said. But in hindsight, she said, she feels hurt.

“I am speaking out because I want to encourage other victims who I know must be out there to come forward as well,” she added.

Allred said that both women met with officials from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Thursday afternoon to share their accounts.

Asked why she chose that office, rather than the Baltimore Police Department or another agency, Allred said she had confidence in the prosecutors there and believed that they were investigating Kelly. A spokesman for the office said he could not confirm that.

Kelly has faced accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse for decades but has never been convicted; he has denied that he had sex with minors or held women against their will. He was acquitted in 2008 of 14 counts of child pornography in a trial that centered on a sex tape, and has reached settlements with numerous accusers.

But momentum against him has been building since Buzzfeed News’ publication in July 2017 of a lengthy investigation into accusations that Kelly held women in a so-called sex cult.

That article, by journalist Jim DeRogatis, who has reported on the accusations against Kelly for nearly 20 years, spurred a six-part Lifetime documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” that aired last month and included testimony from several women who accused Kelly of abuse.

Public opinion seemed to turn against him. His label, RCA Records, has dropped him, and Spotify has removed his songs, which include “Ignition” and “I Believe I Can Fly,” from its playlists. He is also being investigated in at least two states: Illinois and Georgia, where he had homes and where prosecutors have urged any potential victims or witnesses to come forward.

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti also said last week that he had given Chicago prosecutors a videotape that, according to a report, appears to show Kelly having sex with a girl who may have been underage.

Allred said she represented “a number” of Kelly’s accusers — she would not specify how many — and said that some were worried that videos of them being abused might be circulating.

Washington, who cried as she spoke, encouraged women who were victimized by Kelly to contact lawyers and law enforcement officials.

“I want victims to know it’s not their fault,” she said.

A snowstorm that already pummeled the Seattle area is moving through the Midwest and heading toward the Northeast, according to the National Weather Service. Farther south, moisture moving in from the Gulf of Mexico will result in heavy rains, thunderstorms and, possibly, flash floods from Louisiana to Ohio. Those two systems are going to merge by Tuesday morning.

Elsewhere, the Bay Area in California is expecting an “atmospheric river.” (More on that below.) And the Northwest, which was still cleaning up after unusually heavy snowfall last week, was getting a fresh coat of snow from another storm.

Significant flight and transit delays and cancellations are expected, officials said, and downed trees and power disruptions are also possible. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, more than 275 flights were canceled by midday Monday.

David Roth, a forecaster at the National Weather Service, reiterated the official advice to stockpile three to seven days of nonperishable food if you are in an area that could get heavy snow.

“I know everyone likes going for the French toast ingredients, but you’re supposed to look for canned food,” Roth said wryly. “Things that would be good if the power went out.”

The storm moving into the Midwest could leave more than 1 foot of snow in the northernmost states. Toronto was also expecting a mix of snow and ice pellets, accompanied by strong, gusting winds.

On Tuesday, the storm will intensify and head toward the Northeast, the weather service predicted. Northern New England and upstate New York could see more than 1 foot of snow. New York City was expected to get 2 to 4 inches, turning to rain later on.

Areas to the south of the heaviest snowfall — from Ohio to the Mid-Atlantic region — were expected to see a wintry mix of precipitation. The nation’s capital was gearing up for steady rain overnight, after a mix of sleet, rain and snow closed schools and snarled commutes Monday morning.

Seattle has already seen as much snowfall in one day as it usually receives in a year, spurring Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington to declare a state of emergency Friday. Temperatures are expected to remain low in the region, with several additional inches of snow expected.

Officials in California were warning of the dangers of flooding, mudslides and avalanches in the Sierra Nevada range and elsewhere. The Bay Area was expecting an “atmospheric river” — in which vapors from the tropics near Hawaii come close to the shore — starting Tuesday night, bringing heavy rain and strong winds.

And so, the usual reminders: Clean snow and ice from your car before driving, so that you don’t blind or hit other drivers. Go slow and be wary of ice or flooding. Don’t stay outside too long in very cold temperatures. Remember the homeless, who face grave dangers in winter.

And take heart: There are just over five weeks left until spring starts on March 20.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/snow-storm-weather.html" id="6355d810-2001-3933-ab59-ab4319a275ba">The New York Times</a>.

It’s going to be a messy week across much of the United States and parts of Canada.

Snow, Sleet and a Wintry Mix: Expect Messy Weather This Week

Experts warn that even a short time in the blistering cold can be extremely dangerous, with the risk of hypothermia and frostbite increasing every minute.

Of course, many of us have no choice: We have to go to work, take care of others, clear snow, get supplies. If you’ll be outside for any amount of time, you should dress warmly and cover any exposed skin.

Here’s what can happen if you don’t.

Frostbite

The severity of the threat was expected to be the worst Wednesday, when actual temperatures could be in the minus double digits, with wind chill as low as minus 50 or 60, forecasters say. Wind aside, the high temperature in Chicago was expected to be 13 degrees below zero, the low 23 degrees below zero, according to predictions late Tuesday afternoon.

In such extreme cold, exposed skin can develop frostbite in as little as five minutes, said George T. Chiampas, an emergency medicine doctor and professor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The body’s first reaction to extreme cold is to restrict blood and oxygen flow from its extremities, in order to preserve major organs, Chiampas said. The first signs of frostbite including tingling or pain in the affected areas. If you think you have frostbite, you should immediately go inside and check yourself for any discoloration or other clear sign of frostbite. Fingers, toes and the face are most often affected.

People with frostbite sometimes don’t realize what is happening, because their fingers or other parts of their bodies go numb as it sets in. And if they are also experiencing hypothermia, which can be deadly, their judgment could be seriously impaired. (More on that below.)

Signs of frostbite include skin that has blistered or become discolored, or that feels unusually firm or waxy. It can result in permanent damage and amputation, and can be more dangerous the longer it goes without treatment.

Speaking Tuesday afternoon, Chiampas said his department had treated 15 patients with weather-related complaints in the previous 36 hours, including one who had a finger amputated because of frostbite — a much higher number than is typical for this time of year. The hospital, which is operating a warming center, has prepared for a spike in such patients over the next two days.

“These are absolutely dangerous environments,” Chiampas said. “If people listen to this really, really important message, hopefully we can avoid some really unfortunate and sad outcomes.”

If you think you have frostbite, avoid using a heating pad or hot water, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns: If the affected area is numb, you could get burned. Until you can see a doctor, immerse the area in warm water, change into dry warm clothes, and use blankets and body heat, such as tucking fingers into armpits.

The CDC warns against walking on frostbitten feet or toes or massaging affected areas, which can increase damage.

Hypothermia

When the body is exposed to the cold for prolonged periods, it begins to lose heat faster than it can produce it, according to the CDC. Wet conditions are especially dangerous, even in relatively warmer temperatures. A low body temperature renders major organs incapable of functioning properly, and can be deadly. Seniors and others with poor circulation are particularly vulnerable.

In the early stages of hypothermia, people often become disoriented or drowsy. Their judgment may be compromised. Fumbling and slurred speech are telltale signs. This makes hypothermia especially dangerous, according to the CDC, “because a person may not know that it’s happening and won’t be able to do anything about it.”

The agency advises taking the person’s temperature if you notice any of those symptoms. A temperature below 95 indicates an emergency, requiring immediate medical attention.

Until you can get medical assistance, get the person inside, remove wet clothing and gently warm the body, the agency says. (Warm beverages are good. Alcohol is not, as it causes the body to lose heat more rapidly.)

In cases of severe hypothermia, the victim may be unconscious — and may seem not even to have a pulse, or to be breathing. But some hypothermia victims who appear dead can be resuscitated, the CDC says. Call 911 and administer CPR if possible.

Slips, Falls and Other Health Issues

Extreme cold can play a role in many other health issues — the most obvious, of course, being the danger of falls, car accidents and other ice-related injuries. The unanimous advice: Exercise extreme caution.

But it can also play a role in blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes, and blood pressure tends to rise with exposure to cold. Researchers have found that blood becomes more concentrated and thicker in the cold, as blood flow to the skin is reduced to conserve body heat.

Cellphones (Bear With Us)

Extreme cold can also affect cellphones. (No, it’s not technically a part of the body, but what if you need it to call for help?)

Most manufacturers recommend using cellphones in temperatures ranging from 32 to 95. Otherwise, the battery’s ability to power the device is compromised, and it may shut down. Keeping the phone close to your body, say in a pants pocket, should keep it warm if you’re outside. And it should work fine once it’s back in normal temperatures.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/health/frostbite-hypothermia-cold-weather.html" id="90a77504-6ec2-38e4-ae1e-532cb3d9b6bd">The New York Times</a>.

If You Must Go Out, a Few Tips to Stay Safe in the Extreme Cold Weather

Here’s how to stay safe as a polar vortex puts the Midwest into a deep freeze this week: Do. Not. Go. Outside.

Kevin Steincross, a veteran morning anchor on Fox2 St. Louis, was discussing an upcoming tribute to the civil rights leader when he pronounced King’s last name as an anti-black slur during the 5 a.m. broadcast.

Hours later, during the 9 a.m. show, Steincross said the station had heard from a viewer that he had mispronounced the name.

“Please know I have total respect for Dr. King, what he meant and continues to mean to our country,” Steincross said. “This was not intentional in any way, and I sincerely apologize.”

Tribune Broadcasting, the station’s parent company, said that Steincross would not face disciplinary action. Steincross started at Fox2 as a general assignment reporter in 1996 and became a morning newscaster in 1998, according to the station’s website.

“The Fox2 management team spoke to Kevin following the mistake, and we believe that it was truly inadvertent and does not reflect Kevin’s core beliefs,” the company said in a statement. “Kevin is extremely upset by the mistake and regrets it deeply. We do not believe additional disciplinary measures are necessary.”

But some people said the apology was not enough. The St. Louis chapter of the NAACP said on Twitter that it was “unacceptable and very disappointing” and called for Steincross to resign. Others on Twitter questioned how he could mix up the insult with King’s name.

During his lifetime, King’s last name was often swapped out for the epithet, both by avowed racists and others who claimed to have used it mistakenly. More recently, U.S. broadcast journalists have made similar utterances in 2005, 2010 and 2014, the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, New York, reported.

Heather Taylor, a sergeant in the St. Louis police force and president of the Ethical Society of Police, an association for African-American police officers in St. Louis, said the slur was so insulting because of the long history of its use against a man of towering stature.

“Dr. King was murdered,” she said in a phone interview. “He was assassinated fighting for equality. It’s a joke in some communities with that term, and it’s just not acceptable.”

Taylor said that using the slur in place of King’s name was “not something that is normally a slip of the tongue.” She believes that Steincross should be fired.

The incident attracted attention from people across the country on social media. Nadine Graham, a New York-based music writer, called it strange and disheartening.

“You can’t control what somebody has going on in their mind or maybe their everyday lingo,” she said in a phone interview. “But on TV, you should be a little more careful.”

Earlier this month, Jeremy Kappell, then a meteorologist for WHEC, Channel 10, in Rochester, was fired after uttering the slur while describing a city park named for King. During an evening broadcast, Kappell said the slur and then corrected himself, repeating King’s last name accurately.

A WHEC employee saw a post about the slur on social media and alerted the station. As the clip shot around online, the mayor and City Council called for “real consequences for the news personality involved and also for the management team that failed to immediately apologize.”

The station’s vice president and general manager, Richard Reingold, announced that Kappell had been fired after a two-day internal investigation.

“These words have no place on News10NBC’s air, and the fact that we broadcast them disheartens and disgusts me; that it was not caught immediately is inexcusable,” Reingold said in a statement. “I regret that we did not immediately interrupt our broadcast and apologize on the spot.”

Kappell released a video after his firing, saying he had jumbled his words and apologizing to anyone who felt hurt. He also discussed the matter in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, who told him, “I don’t understand why you were fired.”

Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s daughter, weighed in on the firing during an interview with TMZ. She said Kappell should have been reassigned or sent to bias training but not fired.

Taylor said she hoped the uproar would become “a teachable moment” for people to understand what King sacrificed.

“He deserves all the dignity that comes with his name,” she said. “He doesn’t deserve that term.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/us/mlk-kevin-steincross-slur.html" id="0e0bbdf0-7686-3070-a049-1273a72a3ea8">The New York Times</a>.

A television news anchor in St. Louis apologized after he uttered a racial slur in place of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last name during a Friday morning broadcast, nearly two weeks after another U.S. newscaster was fired for a similar act.

News Anchor Apologizes for Using Slur for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Surname

Was it an icy landing zone for aliens? A sign of impending doom? A carousel for ducks? (A handful were, in fact, enjoying the ride.)

The Boston Globe wrote that it was “like some type of arctic buzzsaw,” and residents hurried to the edges of the Presumpscot River to catch a glimpse.

Scientists say that ice disks are an unusual — but entirely natural — phenomenon that occurs when a pile of slush freezes in an eddy or a piece of ice breaks off from a larger one and begins to rotate. As it turns, hitting rocks and water, the sides are shaved down.

Steven Daly, an expert in river ice hydraulics at the Army Corps of Engineers’ Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire, said his agency generally got just one or two reports of rotating ice disks in the United States each year.

They are not usually this big, though.

Kenneth G. Libbrecht, a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, who has studied ice physics, said that most ice disks he had seen were in the 20- to 30-foot range. Local officials estimated that the Westbrook ice disk was about 300 feet across.

“It might be a world-record size, if anybody were keeping track,” Libbrecht said.

Tina Radel, the marketing and communications manager for the city, filmed a drone video after Rob Mitchell, a local business owner, alerted her to the remarkable sight on Monday. After posting it, she spent Tuesday fielding calls from reporters around the country.

“It’s been an overwhelming reaction,” she said. “People are loving it.”

Karen Zraick

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