On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: Food prices are going up
Reporter Jordan Mendoza tells us what to expect. Plus, the man charged in the Brooklyn subway attack is held without bail, the family of Patrick Lyoya wants charges after an officer shot and killed him, patient safety reporter Karen Weintraub talks about new data on a COVID-19 booster for kids ages 5- 11 and Passover and Good Friday are here historically late.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Buenos dias. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 15th of April 2022. Today, the rising cost of food. Plus the latest in the aftermath of the Brooklyn subway attack, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
- The Russian warship Moskva sank into the Black Sea yesterday. The ship’s history goes back to the days of the Cold War and marks a major symbolic defeat for Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
- The head of the UN World Food Program says people are being starved to death in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. David Beasley also predicted the crisis will likely get worse as Russia picks up its offensive in the country’s east.
- And the FDA has given emergency authorization for the first COVID-19 test using a breath sample. In studies, the test correctly identified a positive COVID infection in 91% of cases and a negative one in more than 99%.
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After the United States saw record gas prices last month, consumers can now also expect to pay more at the grocery store and while dining out. Reporter Jordan Mendoza has more on a USDA prediction that expects the cost of food to rise.
Jordan Mendoza:
For all the major food categories that you’re going to be seeing in grocery stores, they’re all going to be jumping. You’re not going to see one rising more than the other. I mean, you will see one more rising than the other, but you’re going to see increased prices everywhere. They’re looking at what’s affecting this and really one of the biggest jumps is going to be with poultry, and that has to do a lot with the outbreak of the bird flu that’s been spreading across the country. 23 states have been affected by it, and so with poultry products, you’re going to be seeing about 6% to 7% increases in your trip to the grocery store. And it also affects eggs, too. Eggs are expected to rise about 2.5% to 3.5%.
Another one that really stood out was fats and oils. Same thing as poultry, they’re going to be expected to jump 6% to 7%. It’s also one of those things where if you try to buy wholesale of it, you’re going to see a much bigger increase as well, to wholesale sales of fats and oils are expected to jump 27% to 30%. So it’s one of the biggest percentage jumps of all food groups.
Also, depending on how you like your fruits and vegetables, is going to depend on how much you pay more at the grocery store too. Fresh fruits are expected to rise 5% to 6%, but vegetables actually aren’t really jumping up that much. They’re only expected to have a 1% or 2% jump, which really isn’t that bad when you consider all the other jumps that are being made. But if you try to buy processed food or processed vegetables, that’s expected to jump 4.5% to 5.5%. So really depending on how you like your fruits and vegetables is going to depend on how much you pay extra at the grocery store now or in the upcoming future.
I mean, anywhere that you buy food, you’re expected to see increases. Total for grocery stores, it’s expected to rise about 3% to 4% this year, after it already had jumped early on this year. So it’s going to continue to rise. But if you try to go eat at a restaurant, try to go pick up some takeout or just go to a restaurant chain, you’re probably going to see prices jump, too. The USDA predicts that there’s going to be a 5.5% to 6.5% jump in restaurant purchases. So really anywhere you try to get food, you’re probably going to be paying a lot more than you usually do.
Taylor Wilson:
For Jordan’s full story, check out today’s episode description.
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The man charged in the Brooklyn subway shooting will be held without bail. That’s what a judge ordered yesterday during his first appearance in federal court. 62 year old Frank R. James was charged with a terrorist or other violent attack against a mass transportation system. He’s accused of throwing smoke grenades and shooting at passengers inside a New York City subway car earlier this week, injuring at least 29 people, including 10 with gunshot wounds. One of them was Hourari Benkada. He’s in the hospital after getting shot in the knee, and also said his situation is tough because he has no health insurance.
Hourari Benkada:
Once I got on the N train, I was transferring from the R to the N on 59th. And like, I go in a regular day with my phone in my hand, looking at my phone. I had my headphones on. I sit down and the guy sitting right next to me, up to the right. And there’s a door between us only. So 10 seconds after the door closes, he throws like a smoke bomb. It goes off and then some kind of fireworks. And then once the train was black filled with smoke, that’s when he started firing shots.
I don’t know, he had like a mask on. So, you know, I just had a quick glimpse at him. I just saw like an MTA vest and like duffle bags on the floor. But I thought he was just, you know, a regular MTA worker or construction guy, you know?
So when the smoke bomb went off and like a little fireworks were going off as well, you know, some lady was yelling out, “I’m pregnant.” So then while everybody was running to the back of her, you know, I kind of like covered her back of her, like shielded her back of her so she wo n’t get hit in the back of her. And like everybody kept pushing, and then that’s when I got struck in the knee. That’s when the bullets were ringing out and it came out. No, I was hit in the back and it came out the front.
So they say since I’m uninsured, that I can’t … because they have to unpack and pack the bullet hole every day for six weeks. So I can’t go home and come back the next day, I would have to stay here. But a social worker did tell me that the City is willing to pay for it, but no action has been taken yet. I’m worried about health insurance while I’m worrying about my bullet wound not getting infected. I should be worrying about my bullet wound not getting infected than the cost of covering it.
Taylor Wilson:
As for the suspect, a prosecutor said James represents an ongoing danger to the community. He was previously charged in the 90s with making terroristic threats in New Jersey, but was convicted of a lesser charge of harassment and sentenced to one year of probation. The New York Police Department said James had at least nine previous arrests in New York and at least three in New Jersey. But his defense attorney cautioned him against a rush to judgment saying that initial reports in cases like these are often inaccurate.
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The family of Patrick Lyoya spoke out yesterday after video was released of a police officer shooting and killing him following an altercation. Peter Lyoya said that his son made a small mistake this month, before being fatally shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer. The name of that officer has not been released and no charges have been issued, although the officer was put on administrative leave. The Lyoyas asked police to release the officer’s name, and Peter Lyoya said he wanted an arrest and conviction.
Peter Lyoya and translator:
I didn’t know that here in America, there can be an execution style to kill someone. To kill someone with a gun. They want the police who has killed, their brother to be identified. They want to know the killer of their brother. They want to know his name and they want to know his face.
Taylor Wilson:
Lyoya and his family immigrated to the US from DR Congo in 2014 to escape violence. Patrick Lyoya’s death came after a traffic stop on April 4th. A video released by police on Wednesday, which we played on yesterday’s show, Lyoya struggled with the officer attempting to grab his taser before the officer pinned him to the ground and shot him. Protestors have marched in Grand Rapids this week, calling for accountability and Tamika Palmer, the mom of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in her apartment hallway in 2020, attended yesterday’s news conference. She said the officer needs to be arrested, convicted and prosecuted.
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A booster dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe for children aged five to 11, according to a new study from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. Patient safety Reporter Karen Weintraub has more.
Karen Weintraub:
So Pfizer just came out with a study, looking at kids ages five to 11 who got a third shot and showed that they had a strong immune reaction. Basically, because not that many kids get COVID, and because we now sort of understand at least a little bit how vaccines affect the immune system, companies don’t have to provide anymore that they can prevent illness. They just have to show in the blood that there’s an immune response to a vaccine, and that’s what they’ve done here.
So this is the first step to get through the trial. They have to apply to the FDA for authorization. If the FDA does authorize a booster shot for ages five to 11, then the CDC also has to authorize it. I don’t know if both… one or both will go through an advisory committee as well, but that is likely to happen too. So it’ll be a while, but not super long.
There are no obvious concerns with safety, nothing new popped up with this third dose. Obviously the trials are small. A couple hundred kids essentially, depends on which part of the trial you’re looking at, but about 400 kids were given this third dose. So, it’s not going to show a rare concern, but it certainly is relatively safe.
So the open question here is whether the advisory committees and then the FDA and the CDC will actually sign off on booster shots. So kids are much less likely to have severe COVID. They do get good protection from the first two shots. Omicron was different enough that it seems to be beneficial to get a third shot to prevent infection with omicron. But the vaccines really don’t prevent all infection. They just are very effective at preventing severe disease and death, and again, children only very rarely get severe disease.
In terms of younger kids, we’re still in the wait-and-see phase for that. There is a trial underground. Actually, both Moderna and Pfizer have trials under way in younger kids getting three doses as their primary vaccine. We don’t know yet what those results will be, but hopefully we’ll hear later this month.
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Happy Passover. Today marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday celebrating the Exodus, the liberation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Also known as Pesach, the holiday comes every year during the month of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, usually following around March or April. And today for Christians is Good Friday. Ahead of this weekend’s Easter Sunday, Good Friday marks the crucifixion of Jesus. Both Passover and Good Friday are linked to the moon. Easter Sunday comes after the Paschal moon and the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles. Both are also uncommonly late this year. Easter will fall on April 17th for the first time in 62 years. Passover is later because Jews periodically add leap years that include an extra month to keep the Jewish year aligned with the seasons of the solar calendar. And this year is one of them.
Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week, all year long on whatever your favorite podcast app is. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I’m back tomorrow with more than 5 Things from USA TODAY.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism