Nation’s COVID numbers greatly improved

More than three months into the U.S. vaccination drive, many of the numbers paint an increasingly encouraging picture, with 70 percent of Americans 65 and older receiving at least one dose of the vaccine and COVID-19 deaths dipping below 1,000 a day on average for the first time since November.

Also, dozens of states have thrown open vaccinations to all adults or are planning to do so in a matter of weeks. And the White House said 27 million doses of both the one-shot and two-shot vaccines will be distributed next week.

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan, which not long ago had one of the country’s lowest COVID-19 infection rates,

is confronting an alarming spike that some experts worry could be a harbinger nationally.

In what public health authorities across the U.S. have been warning for months might happen around the country, the resurgence is being fueled by loosened restrictions, a more infectious variant and pandemic fatigue.

While vaccinations in Michigan are helping to protect senior citizens and other vulnerable people, the upswing is driving up hospitalizations among younger adults and forcing a halt to in-person instruction at some schools.

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and a Los Angeles-based political action committee have reached a settlement

that bars the Georgia Republican from blocking anyone from her public Twitter account or other social media while she’s in office.

Greene also agreed to pay $10,000 to cover legal fees for MeidasTouch LLC, which plans to donate the money to two nonprofit groups, according to Ben Meiselas, the PAC’s co-founder and a lawyer whose clients have included former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

DALLAS — About a third of the cold-stunned sea turtles found along Texas’ coast during last

month’s deadly winter freeze survived following a massive rescue effort by experts and volunteers who were themselves struggling without power at home.

Of the approximately 13,000 sea turtles found, about 4,300 have been rehabilitated and released, according to the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network, a cooperative of federal, state and private partners coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s been the largest cold-stunning event for sea turtles recorded in the U.S. since the network was established in 1980.

DENVER — Tyler DeWitt and Evan Hannibal were slowly making their way down a windswept slope during a backcountry snowboarding excursion in Colorado last spring when the shallow snow beneath them shifted and broke loose.

The experienced backcountry snowboarders weren’t injured, but the avalanche buried a service road in about 20 feet of snow and came dangerously close to Interstate 70, a major route for ski traffic.

Weeks later, the snowboarders were stunned when they got word they were being charged with reckless endangerment. DeWitt and Hannibal didn’t immediately realize the slide destroyed an expensive avalanche mitigation system. Prosecutors also are seeking $168,000 in damages in a rare case some worry could deter other skiers and snowboarders from coming forward to report avalanches out of fear of costly retribution.

KYIV, Ukraine — Protesters calling for the resignation of Belarus’ authoritarian president marched in small groups Thursday throughout the capital of Minsk, the first sizable turnout of demonstrators since weeks of protest rocked the country last year.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova said more than 200 people were detained in connection with unauthorized gatherings.