Latest news with #WendyWoods
National Post
14-05-2025
- National Post
Trial set for ex-MLB pitcher accused of gunning down father-in-law
Article content Article content Prosecutors allege Dan Serafini, who pitched in parts of seven seasons between 1996 and 2007, snuck into and hid inside his in-laws' California house at Lake Tahoe where he shot and killed Gary Spohr and fired two bullets into Wendy Woods' head in June 2021. Article content Woods spent a month in hospital recuperating and didn't have any memory of the shootings. She died by suicide in March 2023, heartbroken over the loss of her husband. Article content Placer County Superior Court officials said jury selection began Tuesday, reports NBC Sacramento affiliate KCRA. The trial is expected to begin next week. Article content Investigators assigned to the case reviewed video surveillance footage from the couple's Homewood home days later and saw a man walking up to the property wearing a black hoodie and a white mask covering his face while carrying a backpack. Article content Spohr, 70, and Wood, 68, were not at home at the time the suspect entered the property, reports SFGate. Article content The couple were with their eldest daughter, Erin Spohr, and her two children enjoying a Saturday afternoon by the lake. Article content They returned home around 7:45 p.m. Before their daughter left, Wood handed her a $90,000 cheque. She later testified that her parents financially supported her and Serafini by paying for their home in Reno, Nev., while also helping cover the cost of day care, baby supplies, schools, vacations and a $55,000 car. Article content It wasn't until later that evening a 911 call came from the home, but the dispatcher could only hear a person gasping for air. Article content The North Tahoe Fire Department arrived first at the home and discovered Spohr dead from one shot to the head and Wood in the upstairs bathroom suffering from gunshots to her head but still alive. Article content After the family told detectives to stop contacting their mother while she recuperated, the case grew cold until the couple's youngest daughter, Adrienne Spohr, held a press conference in February 2022. She offered a $150,000 reward for information that led to the arrest and conviction of the shooter. Article content
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Influenza cases rise, Des Moines hospitals re-mask
DES MOINES, Iowa — Influenza cases across the country continue to rise at staggering numbers, and several Des Moines hospitals are re-masking in response. 'We have noticed in the pediatric side that our volumes peaked in the early part of February. We were seeing one and a half to two times the normal number of children in a 24-hour period,' said Dr. Wendy Woods, the Chief Medical Officer at UnityPoint in Des Moines. 'Our adult ER has also seen an increase in number of cases with influenza, an increased volume to the emergency rooms.' Influenza is impacting everyone; the latest CDC report has Iowa seeing very high activity along with a majority of the country. A Polk County report says at this time last year 29 patients tested positive for influenza, while 164 patients tested positive this year. 'There is a very high influenza activity level in the community. It is recommended that you need to be protecting yourself and protecting your patients,' said Dr. Aneesa Afroze, a infectious disease specialist at MercyOne in Des Moines. Cannabis facility gives tour as state legislature debates cannabis bill While Influenza spread within the community it of concern, Dr. Afroze says the hospital is where is poses the biggest risks. 'Considering the complexity of the patients in our hospital and also immune compromised patients, we have a whole floor of cancer patients in our hospital. We do not want to spread influenza in the hospital itself.' In response Des Moines' UnityPoint, Mercy One, and Broadlawns hospitals are asking healthcare providers to mask up once more. The main goal is to prevent Influenza spreading, especially to patients susceptible to a respiratory illness. UnityPoint says visitors at the hospital have been good at re-masking. 'What I've personally seen in my practice is many of our families are already masking because they themselves are sick and they're worried about spreading it to other patients in the hospital or the to the staff,' said Dr. Woods. Currently no hospitals are requiring patients and visitors to wear masks, but health professionals warn that if Influenza numbers continue on their abnormal path, masks requirements will be enforced. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
