Midday Roundup: Second Dallas nurse tests positive for Ebola

Virus spreads. Another nurse in Dallas has tested positive for Ebola, prompting more criticism of the hospital that treated the first patient diagnosed with the deadly virus on U.S. soil. Amber Joy Vinson, 26, was a member of the team that treated Thomas Eric Duncan before he died Oct. 8. The day before registering a fever and being rushed into isolation, Vinson flew from Cleveland to Dallas, which has officials worried other passengers might have been exposed to the disease. Nurse Nina Pham was diagnosed with Ebola on Sunday. Hospital officials said they had no idea how Pham contracted the virus. They insist all medical personnel used the proper protective measures and equipment. But they also admitted the process had broken down somewhere. This latest diagnosis increases pressure on the hospital to find out what happened. It also punches holes in the Obama administration’s claims that the U.S. healthcare system is ready and able to handle and contain domestic Ebola cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted yesterday they should have sent a rapid response team to Dallas sooner than they did and focused on assisting hospital workers, rather than hunting down people who might have come into contact with Duncan. The CDC is considering a plan to bring all Ebola patients to several facilities that have the training and capability to treat highly infectious patients. Dallas officials are monitoring 77 nurses, doctors, and technicians who treated Duncan before he died.

Chemical weapons debate. More than a dozen U.S. troops were wounded by chemical weapons found in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to a report in today’s New York Times. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers unearthed about 5,000 chemical warheads, shells, or bombs in an area now largely controlled by the militant extremist group ISIS. The new finding re-ignites the debate about the motive for sending troops into Iraq in the first place. The Bush administration faced widespread accusations of making up Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons stash as a pretext for war. “I love it when I hear, ‘Oh there weren’t any chemical weapons in Iraq,’” one former Army sergeant told the Times. “There were plenty.” But the weapons were old, not part of a program actively producing chemical agents before the U.S. invasion, according to the Times.

ID at the polls. Texas voters will have to show state-issued identification when they go to the polls in November. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling late Tuesday allowing the new voter ID law to remain in place, even as it is challenged in the courts. The 5th Circuit said the challenge came too close to Election Day to put the law on hold, with a last-minute change carrying the potential for confusion among voters and poll workers. A lower court judge found the law created an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos claimed that about 600,000 Texans, mostly poor and minority voters, lack proper ID.

Child criminal. Pennsylvania law enforcement officials have charged a 10-year-old boy with criminal homicide, which requires him to be tried as an adult, in the death of a 90-year-old woman he admitted to beating to death. The boy was visiting his grandfather, who was the woman’s caregiver. The boy told his parents he got mad when the woman yelled at him. He admitted holding a cane to her throat and punching her in the face several times. Officials say the boy might have mental health issues that could prevent him from standing trial.

Not-so-virtual violence. A feminist critic of the video game industry canceled a speech at a Utah university after someone called the school and threatened a mass shooting if she appeared. Anita Sarkeesian said she was not satisfied with Utah State University’s security plan. Because Utah has a concealed carry law, officials would not set up metal detectors or agree to pat down speech attendees, Sarkeesian said. The blogger is just the latest woman to be targeted in what has become known as “Gamergate,” an ongoing war of words between gamers and industry critics. Several women have been targeted with death threats. Some of the threats have been so specific that Sarkeesian and another woman were forced to leave their homes out of fear for their lives.