US News Roundup: U.S. states enlist medical, nursing students to give out COVID-19 vaccine; Frightening drive through South Dakota blizzard caught on camera and more

The stakes in this long-shot bid are enormous, as millions of Americans desperately await some sort of new assistance from Washington in a COVID-19 pandemic that is spiraling out of control in the United States and other nations.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. states enlist medical, nursing students to give out COVID-19 vaccine

U.S. states, facing a backlog in administering coronavirus vaccines, are asking medical and nursing students, and even firefighters, to help give the shots and free up healthcare workers battling a raging pandemic at overcrowded hospitals. At least seven state health departments are seeking volunteers for their vaccination sites, some partnering with local universities or nursing schools to offer incentives such as tuition discounts and hands-on training. Others are teaching first responders to administer shots.

Frightening drive through South Dakota blizzard caught on camera

A video taken by a meteorologist in South Dakota and posted to social media on Wednesday shows twenty seconds of a frightening drive through a heavy blizzard. A thick grey fills the view in the footage as Matthew Dux, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, drives down a road, street lights, road signs and other vehicles only appearing at close quarters.

Millions of U.S. vaccine doses sit on ice, putting 2020 goal in doubt

Millions of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting unused in U.S. hospitals and elsewhere a week into the massive inoculation campaign, putting the government's target for 20 million vaccinations this month in doubt. As of Wednesday morning, only 1 million shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine had been given, about one-third of the first shipment sent last week. Over 9.5 million doses of vaccines, including Moderna's, have now been sent to states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Democrats want rushed vote on Trump's $2,000 coronavirus aid checks

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday aim to win quick passage of legislation providing $2,000 in direct payments to Americans as part of a coronavirus economic relief initiative after President Donald Trump unexpectedly insisted on the provision. The stakes in this long-shot bid are enormous, as millions of Americans desperately await some sort of new assistance from Washington in a COVID-19 pandemic that is spiraling out of control in the United States and other nations.

The lawsuit challenges Trump's lifting of roadless rule in Alaska's Tongass forest

A coalition of Alaska Native tribes and environmentalists filed suit on Wednesday challenging a new Trump administration policy that opens vast swaths of the largest U.S. national forest to logging, mining and other commercial development. The lawsuit, joined by tourism and fishing organizations, seeks to reinstate prohibitions on road-building through previously protected areas in the Tongass National Forest of southeastern Alaska, the world's largest temperate rain forest.

Trump pardons former campaign chairman Manafort, associate Roger Stone

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted pardons to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions under the long-running Russia election probe. Trump also issued a pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

'Balloon boy' parents pardoned by Colorado governor over 2009 hoax

The husband and wife who pleaded guilty to criminal charges for staging the 2009 "balloon boy" hoax, creating a global media sensation with a false report that their son had floated away in a makeshift dirigible, were pardoned on Wednesday by Colorado's governor. In granting executive clemency to Richard Mayumi Heene, essentially a forgiveness of their crimes, Governor Jared Polis said the couple, now 59 and 56, had paid their debt to society for a "spectacle" that wasted law enforcement time and resources.

U.S. faces risk of government shutdown as Trump balks at COVID-19 relief deal

Americans on Wednesday faced the prospect of a government shutdown during a pandemic as outgoing President Donald Trump, angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, demanded dramatic changes to a $2.3 trillion government funding and coronavirus aid package. The package, which includes $892 billion for relief from the coronavirus crisis, passed both chambers of Congress on Monday after months of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats.

U.S. cyber agency says SolarWinds hackers are 'impacting' state, local governments

The U.S. cybersecurity agency said on Wednesday that a sprawling cyber espionage campaign made public earlier this month is affecting state and local governments, although it released few additional details. The hacking campaign, which used U.S. tech company SolarWinds as a springboard to penetrate federal government networks, was "impacting enterprise networks across federal, state, and local governments, as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations," the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a statement posted to its website.

One million Americans vaccinated for COVID; Tennessee new epicenter

Tennessee emerged alongside California on Wednesday as an epicenter of the latest COVID-19 surge even while more than 1 million Americans have been vaccinated as U.S. political leaders sought to guard against a highly contagious coronavirus variant sweeping across Britain. Tennessee averaged nearly 128 new infections per 100,000 people over the last week, the highest of any U.S. state, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. California stood second at 111 new cases per 100,000 residents.