Coronavirus

Baseball Hall-of-Famer, Home Run Master, Hank Aaron, Dies at 86

Aaron is most renowned for breaking Babe Ruth’s homerun record in 1973 with 715 career homeruns and went on to attain 755 career homeruns.

Published

4 years ago

January 26, 2021

Kiki

Hank Aaron photocredit Twitter

Henry Louis Aaron was born Feb. 5, 1934, in Mobile, Ala. He died on January 22, 2021, in Atlanta, Ga. His cause of death was listed as natural causes.

Aaron is most renowned for breaking Babe Ruth’s homerun record in 1973 with 715 career homeruns and went on to attain 755 career homeruns.

He was lauded for this achievement, breaking a record long held by Ruth, a beloved figure before professional baseball was integrated. Aaron received a plaque from the U.S. Postal Service for receiving more mail, 930,000 pieces than any other non-politician after breaking the homerun record. A great deal of it was hate mail. Aaron experienced racism and segregation throughout his life.

Aaron started his career with the Negro Leagues (classified as major leagues by Major League Baseball in December 2020), Indianapolis Clowns in 1952 and spent 1954 – 1974 with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, ending his playing career with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1975 – 1976. Aaron primarily played right field.

His uniform number — 44 — was retired by the Atlanta Braves in 1977.

His baseball awards were numerous and he was inducted intro the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 on the first ballot.

His Hall of Fame plaque states: “Hit 755 Home Runs in 23-year career to become majors’ all-time homer king. Had 20 or more for 20 consecutive years, at least 30 in 15 seasons and 40 of better eight times. Also set records for games played (3,298), at bats (12,354), long hits (1,477), paced N.L. in batting twice an homer, runs batted in and slugging pct. Four times each. Won most valuable player award in N.L. in 1957.”

San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds subsequently broke Aaron’s home run record in 2007 with an asterisk because of allegations of hhis steroid use.

After retiring from baseball Aaron held positions in the front office of the Atlanta Braves. He was one of the first people of color to hold an upper management position in Major League Baseball.

He published his autobiography in 1990, “I Had a Hammer” both a play on his nickname, “Hammerin’ Hank” or “The Hammer” and a nod to the folk song, “If I Had a Hammer”.

Hip-Hop artist M.C. Hammer got his nickname because folks thought he looked like Hank Aaron.

In 2002 Aaron was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

A memorial service will be held on January 26 and streamed on AJC.com at 1pm EST. Former President Bill Clinton and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig are scheduled to attend the funeral.

His private funeral will be held on January 27 at Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta and burial at South-View Cemetery.

According to a statement from the Atlanta Braves he “passed away peacefully in his sleep.”

Aaron publicly received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on January 5, 2021 along with Andrew Young, 88.

On social media he said “I was proud to get the COVID-19 vaccine earlier today at Morehouse School of Medicine. I hope you do the same!”

Aaron is survived by his second wife, Billye, and by five children: Gaile, Hank Jr., Larry, Dorinda, and Ceci.

Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Guardian, and People Magazine were sources for this report.

Kiki

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Authorities Warn: There’s a COVID Surge in California

According to data estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the coronavirus in California’s wastewater has spiked for eight consecutive weeks. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have also increased since the rise of the new subvariants. Over the last month, Los Angeles County experienced an average of 389 hospital patients per day that tested positive for the coronavirus. The FLiRT subvariants such as KP.3.1.1. Made up over 2% of coronavirus samples nationwide, an increase of more than 7% last month.

Published

4 months ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo provided by California Black Media.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California is experiencing a COVID-19 surge this summer, experts warn, as numbers of infections increased for the third month this year.

State public health authorities attribute the summer COVID surge to more infectious subvariants that have emerged as the coronavirus evolves.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, stated that subvariants of COVID-19 called FLiRT increased in recent months, particularly one named KP.3.1.1 that has become the most common strain in the country.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said that the subvariant KP.3.1.1 seems most adept at transmission.

“The subvariant is the one that people think will continue to take over, not only in the United States, but … around the world,” Chin-Hong said.

The majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 complained of a sore throat and a heavy cough. Risk factors that can increase the illness include age, underlying health issues, and vaccine dosage.

Health experts stated that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has increased in Northern California. However, people are having a hard time getting the vaccine due to the increasing number of cases.

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California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

1 year ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

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BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

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