FDA authorizes Pfizer booster for ages 65 and older, high-risk individuals

The USDA has officially granted emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster shot on Wednesday, per CNN.

Use of the booster shot is also granted to citizens with a high risk of contracting the severe virus and people whose jobs put them at risk of infection.

In an official statement, acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcook said the decision was made after considering a wide range of available scientific evidence and “deliberations of our advisory committee of independent (and) external experts.”

The group of booster vaccine advisors to the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention met Thursday to act upon the FDA’s decision.

R. Kelly sex trafficking crimes were hidden in ‘plain sight’, says prosecutor

During a closing argument Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said R. Kelly and his entourage of business associates dominated women in a quarter-century of sexual abuse, according to Reuters.

Geddes’ statement came as the R&B star’s sex trafficking trial neared an end, lasting about three-and-a-half hours.

In the argument, Geddes said that Kelly’s associates were accomplices to his crimes by assisting in recruiting women and, “turned a blind eye,” as they did so.

Kelly used his vast network to “dominate his victims,” and levied his “money and public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight,” said Geddes.

The argument comes at the end of a five-week trial regarding Kelly’s alleged crimes and included several accusers testifying against the singer.

Kelly’s fate is now in the hands of the jurors.

Las Vegas man arrested in nearly half-century old cold case

A 68-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested last week in connection with a 47-year-old Southern California murder case, per FOX News.

Carlin Edward Cornett, 68, was arrested at his home in Las Vegas on Sept. 14, accused of murdering a 7-Eleven employee in National City, CA in July 1974.

The employee, Christy Ellen Bryant, then 22, was stabbed to death while working an early morning shift.

Cornett has been identified by the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services with the help of the National City Police Department and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office – Cold Case Homicide Unit.

“Pursuing justice for families who lost their loved ones to violence is a priority for us no matter how many years have gone by”, said San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan in a statement. “We never give up and continuously use the latest in crime scene investigation techniques to hold criminals accountable.”

Trump calls on Texas for state-wide election audit

Former President Donald J. Trump is calling for Texas to audit its 2020 presidential election results on Wednesday, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The results of Texas’ election show that the Republican nominee won and the GOP largely fended off Democrats’ push to flip seats in Texas Legislature.

This call comes nine months after President Joe Biden took office and Trump’s own Justice Department declared the 2020 election “smooth and secure.”

Trump is lobbying for a GOP-authored bill that, if passed, will allow party officials to request audits of their county’s 2020 election results, while a process for future reviews.

State Senate Republicans passed the bill in the final days of the last special session, but The House did not take it up.