On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Feb. 17 at 6 a.m. CT:

CHICAGO (AP) — Abortion rights advocates are trying to get initiatives to protect reproductive health on the ballot in several states this year. And one major difference has emerged in their proposed language: whether to include mental health as an exception. A Missouri proposal would allow lawmakers to restrict abortions after a fetus is considered viable, except if an abortion “is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.” A similar measure has been proposed in Arizona, but proposals in Florida, Montana and Nebraska do not explicitly mention mental health. The CDC says mental health conditions were the leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related deaths from 2017 to 2019.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors in states with strict abortion restrictions say an increasing number of pregnant women are seeking early prenatal testing. They're hoping to detect serious problems while they still have time to choose whether to continue the pregnancy or have an abortion. But early ultrasounds show far less about the condition of a fetus than later ones. And genetic screenings may be inaccurate. Since Roe v. Wade, about half the states have put in abortion bans or restrictions. And that's started the clock ticking. Many health care providers say more patients are deciding the fate of their pregnancies based on whatever information they can gather before state bans kick in.

Officials in central Oregon this week reported a case of bubonic plague in a resident who likely got the disease from a sick pet cat. The infected resident and the resident’s close contacts have all been provided medication, public health officials say, and people in the community are not believed to be at risk. The cat was treated but did not survive. Plague isn’t common, but it also isn’t unheard of in the western United States, where a handful of cases occur every year. Here are a few things to know about what the plague is, who is at risk and how a disease that was once a harbinger of death became a treatable illness.

NEW YORK (AP) — A recent death has brought new attention to the so-called Alaskapox virus. The bug belongs to a family of brick-shaped viruses that can infect animals and humans. Smallpox is perhaps the most famous of the group. But other family members include cowpox, horsepox and mpox — formerly known as monkeypox. An elderly man who died last month is believed to be the first known death from Alaskapox. He lived in the Kenai Peninsula and had a suppressed immune system because of cancer treatment. There have been fewer than 10 cases, all in Alaska, since the virus was discovered nine years ago.

Nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the U.S. than they did a year ago. That’s according to the latest annual survey from the American Jewish Committee. The AJC — a prominent Jewish advocacy organization — conducted the survey last fall, just as the Israel-Hamas war began. The survey released Tuesday found almost half of American Jews have altered their behavior during the past year to avoid being perceived as Jewish. AJC began its annual survey five years ago, after the Tree of Life synagogue massacre, the deadliest antisemitic attack on American soil. Since then, most Jews and more than half of Americans say they think antisemitism has increased.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Scientists say the back-to-back storms that lashed the Northeast in January were more of a sign of things to come than an anomaly. Many scientists who study the intersection of climate change, flooding, winter storms and sea level say such storms will arrive with increased frequency and ferocity, and the damage they leave behind will worsen as sea levels rise. They say the January storms that destroyed wharfs in Maine, eroded sand dunes in New Hampshire and destroyed houses in Rhode Island are becoming more the norm than the exception, and the time to prepare for them is now.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief is warning that climate chaos and food crises are increasing threats to global peace. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a high-level U,N. meeting Tuesday that climate disasters imperil food production and “empty bellies fuel unrest.” He urged the U.N. Security Council to address the impact of food shortages and rising temperatures on international peace and security — a view echoed by many countries but not Russia. Guterres said: “Climate and conflict are two leading drivers of (our) global food crisis” and “where wars rage, hunger reigns." Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said climate and food should be discussed elsewhere in the U.N., and blamed former Western colonial powers and the U.S. for current crises in the developing world.

CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Brandon Johnson says Chicago isn't renewing its ShotSpotter contract and will stop using the controversial gunshot detection system later this year. The system relies on an artificial intelligence algorithm and microphones to identify gunshots. But it has been criticized for inaccuracy, racial bias and law enforcement misuse. Chicago’s $49 million contract with SoundThinking expires Friday. The city plans to wind down its use of ShotSpotter technology by late September. Johnson, a first-term mayor, campaigned on a promise to end the use of ShotSpotter, putting him at odds with law enforcement. Police say the technology puts officers on the scene of shootings much faster than waiting for 911 calls.

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The family of a teen murdered at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is launching a campaign where re-created voices of gun violence victims will call federal lawmakers. The parents of 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver launched the project on Wednesday, the massacre's sixth anniversary. Oliver and 16 others died in the shooting. The recordings re-creating voices of victims from around the country are being robocalled to U.S. senators and House members who oppose stricter gun laws. Manuel and Patricia Oliver say they hope the calls will pressure the lawmakers to shift their positions. The Olivers want the sale of military-style semi-automatic rifles like the one that killed their son banned.

WHITEFISH POINT, Mich. (AP) — Shipwreck hunters have discovered a merchant ship that sank in Lake Superior in 1940, taking its captain with it during a storm off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and shipwreck researcher Dan Fountain announced Monday the discovery of the 244-foot bulk carrier Arlington just north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. The Arlington was fully loaded with wheat and headed to Owen Sound, Ontario, when it sank on May 1, 1940. All crew members survived, but Captain Frederick “Tatey Bug” Burke went down with his ship after ordering it onto the open lake during the storm.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

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