UVALDE — Eight days after surviving the shooting at Robb Elementary, 9-year-old Zayin Zuniga returned to the school grounds to visit the memorial for his slain classmates. Zayin and his mom approached one of the 21 crosses that were set on the school’s lawn to honor each of the victims killed last week: the one for Eliahna Amyah Garcia, 9, whom Zayin called Ellie.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A COVID-19 vaccine that could soon win federal authorization may offer a boost for the U.S. military: an opportunity to get shots into some of the thousands of service members who have refused the other coronavirus vaccines for religious reasons. Already, at least 175 active duty and reserve service members have received the Novavax vaccine. Some have traveled overseas at their own expense to get it. The Novavax vaccine meets Defense Department requirements because it has the World Health Organization’s emergency use approval and is used in Europe and other regions. Military officials say many troops who refuse the shots cite certain COVID-19 vaccines’ remote connection to abortions.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Marine Corps says all five Marines died on board an Osprey aircraft that crashed in the Southern California desert. The MV-22 Osprey belonged to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. It went down at 12:25 p.m. Wednesday during training. The MV-22 is a twin-engine tiltrotor aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter but transit as a turboprop aircraft. Versions of the aircraft are flown by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.
The Howard Payne University athletic department recently announced the hiring of Danielle Henkel as the head coach of the women’s and men’s tennis teams. While at Dallas Baptist University the past two seasons,Henkel helped guide the Patriot women’s program to back-to-back winning seasons (14-6 and 14-12).
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average longterm U.S. mortgage rates jumped back up ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting where it’s expected to announce another increase to its main borrowing rate. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate jumped to 5.23% this week from 5.09% last week. The brisk jump in rates, along with a sharp increase in home prices, has been pushing potential homebuyers out of the market. Mortgage applications decreased 6.5% from one week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. The group’s composite index, a measurement of mortgage loan application volume, is at its lowest level in 22 years.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday as investors struggle to find some direction for markets amid persistently choppy trading. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as 10:21 of a.m.
Common Grounds Coffeehouse will open Monday in its new home — the former central station of the Brownwood Fire Department at the intersection of Austin and Main. .
DEAR ABBY: I’m a gay man. A friend of more than 20 years, “Marci,” passed away eight months ago after battling cancer for four years. Just a month after the funeral, her wife, “Julia,” started dating. She was engaged four months later and married “Leslie” seven months after that. When they started dating, Leslie was still legally married. My husband and I are godfathers to the one child Marci and Julia had.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for jobless aid last week but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment remains at a five-decade low. Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 27,000 to 229,000 for the week ending June 4, the most since mid-January, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Firsttime applications generally track the number of layoffs. The four-week average for claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 8,000 from the previous week to 215,000. The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending May 28 was unchanged at 1,306,000, the fewest since Jan. 10, 1970.