Inflation causes changes in tax brackets a bump in Social Security and more of the week' s top news Dcc - Wire HEAD TOPICS

Inflation causes changes in tax brackets a bump in Social Security and more of the week' s top news

10/21/2022 8:32:00 PM

From news about the impending jump in Social Security payments to multiple Trump headlines here' s the top stories from the past week

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Dothan Eagle

From news about the impending jump in Social Security payments, to multiple Trump headlines, here's the top stories from the past week. From news about the impending jump in Social Security payments, to multiple Trump headlines, here's the top stories from the past week. FILE - The body of a serviceman is coated in snow next to a destroyed Russian military multiple rocket launcher vehicle on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File) FILE - Oleksandr Konovalov, an ambulance paramedic, performs CPR on a girl injured by the shelling in a residential area as her father sits, left, after arriving at the city hospital of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. The girl did not survive. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Read more:
Dothan Eagle » Social Security now allows individuals to self-select gender Social Security now allows individuals to self-select gender Social Security allows Americans to pick new gender Column: GOP promises to gut your Social Security, Medicare if it takes power

Wildfires Erupt in the Pacific Northwest

A series of recent wildfires ignited or spread this past week as warm, dry, and windy conditions—a rarity for the rainy Pacific Northwest. Read more >> Social Security now allows individuals to self-select genderWASHINGTON (AP) — Individuals will be allowed to make sure that their records with the Social Security Administration align with their gender identity under a plan announced Wednesday. The action, which is part of the agency’s “Equity Action Plan,” follows through on a March announcement to do so by the agency's acting commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi. Clown country Can I put my species identity under it too? I believe I am a dolphin so it must be true 😪 Social Security now allows individuals to self-select genderThe agency says it is exploring possible future policy and systems updates to support an “X” designation for the SSN card application process for people who don’t identify as male or female. Social Security allows Americans to pick new genderAmericans can now select a new gender in their Social Security records without having to submit any medical or legal proof that they have switched their sex designation. This affects you how? F’ed up world! I’m an armadillo Column: GOP promises to gut your Social Security, Medicare if it takes powerRepublican leaders are threatening to take the debt limit hostage unless they get Social Security and Medicare benefit cuts. Like my boss used to say cheap ass Republicans This is a appeal to seniors, name one benefit for paying social security for people working and under 40, to the point the government is banking on your death before you collect, because the republicans brought it up it’s bad? It was outdated 50 years ago as it is now clarkgregg 🙄 Social Security now allows individuals to self-select genderIndividuals will be allowed to make sure their records with the Social Security Administration align with their gender identity under a plan announced Wednesday. This is a threat to national security. Period How can this be ? Is this another way for men to try to get out of the draft or is this a way to force women into the draft ? Oh goody! I'm glad we are tackling the important issues in this world. Social Security now allows individuals to self-select genderIndividuals will be allowed to make sure their records with the Social Security Administration align with their gender identity under a plan announced Wednesday. what's social security? SSI still exists ? Warning: This gallery contains graphic images Photos: 6 months of war in Ukraine FILE - Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022.By FATIMA HUSSEIN October 19, 2022 GMT FILE - A Social Security card is displayed in Tigard, Ore.In June 2021, the State Department started implementing  procedures  to allow applicants to self-select their gender, including an “X,” and no longer required medical certification if an applicant’s self-selected gender does not match the gender on their other citizenship or identity documents.The Unregulated Podcast with Mike McKenna and Tom Pyle TRENDING:. A Russian attack has severely damaged the maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - The body of a serviceman is coated in snow next to a destroyed Russian military multiple rocket launcher vehicle on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. 25, 2022. airports for transgender travelers and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has implemented protections for homeless transgender people who seek emergency shelter access consistent with their gender identity. Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File) Vadim Ghirda FILE - Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022., Oct. Most Read. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) Emilio Morenatti FILE - Oleksandr Konovalov, an ambulance paramedic, performs CPR on a girl injured by the shelling in a residential area as her father sits, left, after arriving at the city hospital of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. Individuals will be allowed to make sure their records with the Social Security Administration align with their gender identity under a plan announced Wednesday, Oct. The girl did not survive. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - An armored personnel carrier burns amid damaged and abandoned Russian light utility vehicles after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — Individuals will be allowed to make sure that their records with the Social Security Administration align with their gender identity under a plan announced Wednesday. 27, 2022. The city authorities said that Ukrainian forces engaged in fighting with Russian troops that entered the country's second-largest city on Sunday. Kijakazi said the move is part of a “commitment to decrease administrative burdens and ensure people who identify as gender diverse or transgender have options in the Social Security Number card application process. (AP Photo/Marienko Andrew, File) Marienko Andrew FILE - Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022. In June, President Joe Biden signed an executive order meant to take steps to advance LGBTQ equality, including “strengthening supports and protections for transgender Americans. Volunteerism has seized the city. Until the missiles struck within walking distance of the cathedrals and cafes downtown on Friday, March 18, Ukraine's cultural capital was a city that could feel distant from the war. ADVERTISEMENT The agency says it is exploring possible future policy and systems updates to support an “X” designation for the SSN card application process for people who don’t identify as male or female. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) Bernat Armangue FILE - A man carries a baby as people struggle on stairways after a last minute change of the departure platform for a Lviv bound train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File) Vadim Ghirda FILE - A member of the Ukrainian Emergency Service looks at the City Hall building in the central square following shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes pounded the central square in Ukraine's second-largest city and other civilian sites Tuesday in what the country's president condemned as blatant campaign of terror by Moscow. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy, File) Pavel Dorogoy FILE - The children of medical workers warm themselves in a blanket as they wait for their relatives in a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - Aleksander, 41, presses his palms against the window as he says goodbye to his daughter Anna, 5, on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Friday, March 4. 2022. Aleksander has to stay behind to fight in the war while his family leaves the country to seek refuge in a neighbouring country. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) Emilio Morenatti FILE - Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) Emilio Morenatti FILE - An elderly lady sit in a wheelchair after being evacuated from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Demands for ways to safety evacuate civilians have surged along with intensifying shelling by Russian forces, who have made significant advances in southern Ukraine but stalled in some other regions. Efforts to put in place cease-fires along humanitarian corridors have repeatedly failed amid Russian shelling.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File) Vadim Ghirda FILE - Dead bodies are placed into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 as people cannot bury their dead because of the heavy shelling by Russian forces. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - A picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin hangs at a target practice range in Lviv in western Ukraine, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) Bernat Armangue FILE - Irina Zubchenko walks with her dog Max amid the destruction caused after a bombing in a shopping in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/ (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File) Rodrigo Abd FILE - An injured dog is seen at the ADA foundation centre in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, Monday, March 28, 2022. Amid the exodus of more than 2. 2 million Ukrainian refugees to Poland who fled the Russian invasion are the pet lovers who could not leave their animals behind. The evacuation of the animals was dangerous but was made possible due to the efforts and cooperation of several animal rights groups and Ukrainian refugees. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File) Sergei Grits FILE - A neighbour walks on the debris of a burning house, destroyed after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) Felipe Dana FILE - A man rides his bike past flames and smoke rising from a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) Felipe Dana FILE - The hand of a corpse buried along with other bodies is seen in a mass grave in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File) Rodrigo Abd FILE - Women stand in their robes outside after leaving their building to get a better look at smoke rising after Russian attacks in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File) Petros Giannakouris FILE - A lifeless body of a man with his hands tied behind his back lies on the pavement in Bucha, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022. Associated Press journalists in Bucha, a small city northwest of Kyiv, saw the bodies of at least nine people in civilian clothes who appeared to have been killed at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File) Vadim Ghirda FILE - Four bodies lie in a mass grave, including the village mayor and her family, in Motyzhyn close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022, after Russian army were pushed out from the area by Ukrainian forces. The bodies appeared to have been shot at close range, with the mayor's husband with hands behind his back, with a piece of rope nearby, and a piece of plastic wrapped around his eyes like a blindfold. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) Efrem Lukatsky FILE - Ira Gavriluk holds her cat as she walks next to the bodies of her husband, brother, and another man, who were killed outside her home in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) Felipe Dana FILE - A resident looks for belongings in the ruins of an apartment building destroyed during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Borodyanka, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File) Vadim Ghirda EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - The remains of victoms and the fragments of a Russian military helicopter can be seen near Makariv close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Efrem Lukatsky FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - Volunteers load on a truck corpses of civilians killed in Bucha to be taken to a morgue for investigation, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File) Rodrigo Abd FILE - A woman reacts next to the body of a 15-year-old boy killed during a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) Felipe Dana FILE - Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, cries while holding the coffin of her son Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers last March 30 in Bucha, during his funeral in the cemetery of Mykulychi, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 16, 2022. After nine days since the discovery of Vadym's corpse, finally Nadiya could have a proper funeral for him. This is not where Nadiya Trubchaninova thought she would find herself at 70 years of age, hitchhiking daily from her village to the shattered town of Bucha trying to bring her son's body home for burial. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File) Rodrigo Abd FILE - An injured man smokes following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a"new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File) Petros Giannakouris FILE - A car is parked under a tree in partially abandoned Chernobyl town, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File) Francisco Seco FILE - The body of an unidentified man in seen on a road barrier near a village recently retaken by Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) Felipe Dana FILE - Anna Shevchenko, 35, waters the few flowers that survived in the garden of her home in Irpin, near Kyiv, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The house, built by Shevchenko's grandparents, was nearly completely destroyed by bombing in late March during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In her beloved flowerbed, some roses, lilies, peonies and daffodils survived."It is new life. So I tried to save my flowers," she said. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) Emilio Morenatti FILE - Oksana Balandina, 23, receives medical assistance by a doctor who cleans her wounds at a public hospital in Lviv, Ukraine Saturday, May 14, 2022. Oksana lost both legs and 4 fingers on her left arm when a shell sticking in the ground near her house exploded on March 27."There was explosion. Just after that I felt my legs like falling into emptiness. I was trying to look around and saw that there were no legs anymore - only bones, flesh and blood". (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) Emilio Morenatti FILE - Iuliia Loseva cries over the coffin of her husband Volodymyr Losev, 38, during his funeral at a cemetery in Zorya Truda, Odesa region, Ukraine, Monday, May 16, 2022. Volodymyr Losev, a Ukrainian volunteer soldier, was killed on May 7 when the military vehicle he was driving ran over a mine in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File) Francisco Seco FILE - Ukrainian servicemen sit in a bus after they were evacuated from the besieged Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant, near a remand prison in Olyonivka, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov, File) Alexei Alexandrov FILE - Nila Zelinska holds a doll belonging to her granddaughter, she was able to find in her destroyed house in Potashnya outskirts Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Zelinska just returned to her home town after escaping war to find out she is homeless. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File) Natacha Pisarenko FILE - Two national guard soldiers drink a shot to honor the memory of two late soldiers in Kharkiv cemetery, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) Bernat Armangue FILE - Elena Holovko sits among debris outside her house damaged after a missile strike in Druzhkivka, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) Bernat Armangue FILE - A woman brandishes the Ukrainian flag on top of a destroyed Russian tank in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 10, 2022. With war raging on fronts to the east and south, the summer of 2022 is proving bitter for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The sun shines but sadness and grim determination reign.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File) Natacha Pisarenko FILE A Russian soldier inspects a labyrinth of the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal, in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022. The plant was almost completely destroyed during the siege of Mariupol. This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. (AP Photo, File) STF FILE - Sixty-six-year-old Volodymyr, injured from a Russian bombardment, sits on a chair in his damaged apartment, in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Nariman El-Mofty FILE - Relatives and friends attend the funeral ceremony for Liza, 4-year-old girl killed by Russian attack, in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, Sunday, July 17, 2022. Wearing a blue denim jacket with flowers, Liza was among 23 people killed, including two boys aged 7 and 8, in Thursday's missile strike in Vinnytsia. Her mother, Iryna Dmytrieva, was among the scores injured. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) Efrem Lukatsky Medic volunteer Nataliia Voronkova, top right, gives a medical tactical training session to soldiers in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens go off, in Dobropillia, eastern Ukraine, Friday, July 22, 2022. Voronkova has dedicated her life to aid distribution and tactical medical training for soldiers and paramedics, working on front line of the Donetsk region since the war began in 2014. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Nariman El-Mofty FILE - The lights of a police vehicle illuminate the side of a road, as servicemen arrive to check damages in the aftermath of a car accident between a civilian and soldier, after curfew hours in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, July 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File) Nariman El-Mofty FILE - EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A burned out body of Ukrainian military prisoner is seen in destroyed barrack at a prison in Olenivka, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces, eastern Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2022. Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling the prison in Olenivka in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian military prisoners who were captured after the fall of a southern port city of Mariupol in May. (AP Photo, File) STR FILE - Maria and Oleh Berest embrace while posing for their photographer by a fountain on their wedding day as sandbags fortify the opera house in Odesa, Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2022. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) David Goldman FILE - A wheat field burns after Russian shelling a few kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - Nelia Fedorova, left, is embraced by her daughter, Yelyzaveta Gavenko, 11, the day after they were wounded in a rocket attack which also killed Fedorova's husband, Oleksii, in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. The family had previously evacuated to central Ukraine but returned to their home at the end of June after Nelia and Oleksii had trouble finding work. The strike killed three people and wounded 13 others, according to the mayor. The attack came less than a day after 11 other rockets were fired at the city as Russia's invasion continues. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) David Goldman Bear mauls 10-year-old in grandparents' Connecticut backyard, tries to drag him away MORRIS, Conn. (AP) — A 250-pound black bear mauled a 10-year-old boy playing in his grandparents' backyard in Connecticut and tried to drag him away before the animal was fatally shot by police, authorities said. The child was attacked about 11 a.m. Sunday in the town of Morris, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening. Officers from the state police and DEEP's environmental conservation force responded and shot the bear, authorities said. The boy's grandfather described the harrowing attack to the Republican-American of Waterbury. James Butler said his grandson was playing near a trampoline when the bear emerged from thick woods behind the house. "I heard him yell 'bear' and when I looked up, I saw his leg in the bear's mouth and the bear trying to drag him across the lawn," Butler said. Butler, who uses a wheelchair, wheeled his chair toward the bear and threw a metal bar at its head, he told the newspaper. Amid wildlife officials needing to relocate a bear in Durango, two bear cubs being hit by cars in Steamboat Springs and the animal's general curiosity and aggressiveness in the fall, wildlife officials urge Coloradans to be bear aware this season. The bear released the boy but then grabbed the child a second time and used its claws to try to roll the boy onto his back, the grandfather said. A neighbor alerted by the boy's screams raced over and scared the bear off by brandishing a pipe and yelling, Butler said. Once Butler and his grandson were safely inside the house, the bear returned, walking up a wheelchair ramp and peering at them through screen door, Butler said. "We thought he was coming through the screen," Butler said."No doubt he was a big threat." The bear was fatally shot by police a short time later. Butler, and his wife, Christina Anderson, who was inside the house when the bear attacked, said the boy suffered a puncture wound to one thigh, bite marks on a foot and ankle and claw marks on his back. State biologist Jenny Dixon said the risk of negative bear-human interactions is increasing as Connecticut's expanding bear population becomes acclimated to humans and develops a taste for their food. 12 tips for preventing a trail attack 1. Avoid hiking alone Hiking with a buddy is an easy way to deter would-be assailants. Remember — strength in numbers. 2. Hike during busier times While hiking on a crowded trail can be a drag, having more people around could limit the risk of an attack. Avoiding early morning and late day hikes can help you avoid hiking in an isolated situation. 3. Avoid using headphones Blasting music or a podcast through your headphones can limit your awareness of what’s going on around you. Keep your ears open to send a signal to a would-be attacker that you’re able to fully hear them coming. Dreamstime 4. Carry an emergency signaling device Consider carrying a GPS device that lets you report an emergency situation. Reporting a dangerous situation quickly and accurately is important for search and rescue crews that may be needed. 5. Bring a hiking whistle By carrying a loud whistle, you’re able to quickly and efficiently alert those in the area to a dangerous situation that’s unfolding. Many hikers prefer to keep their whistle around their neck for easy access. 6. Learn self-defense Take a few self-defense classes at a local martial arts studio to learn a few basic techniques. These skills can be crucial to stopping an attack and escaping the situation safely. 7. Know the trail Research a trail beforehand and consult others that have been along the route. This will often tip you off to general sketchiness or other hazards that may be present. 8. Consider bringing pepper spray Not only can pepper spray be used to prevent an animal attack, it can also be used to ward off dangerous humans. Obviously, pepper spray should only be used in the direst of situations when using it is legal. It’s also a smart idea to practice using the pepper spray on a mock target prior to carrying it so that one knows how to use it and what the experience of using it is like. 9. Wear proper gear Proper gear will allow you to keep moving regardless of inclement weather that rolls through. Don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by wearing shoes that are hard to walk or run in if things get muddy. 10. Tell a friend where you’re headed Whether you’re hiking alone or with someone else, a trusted individual who’s not there should know where you’re headed and when you’re expecting to be back. This will allow them to alert authorities in a timely manner if you don’t return. 11. Pay attention to your surroundings It can be easy to get lost in the moment of enjoying a natural scene, but remember to stay alert and aware of your surroundings. Take note of people that might be following you and other occurrences that just seem a bit off. 12. Put that canine to use If you’ve got a dog, bring it on the hike as a safety measure when you can. Dogs are often a deterrence for crime when they’re large enough to protect their handlers if need be. What happened to #MeToo? 5 years on, women take stock of the movement Once again, disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein sits in a courtroom, on trial in Los Angeles while the reckoning the accusations against him launched marks a significant milestone this month: It's been five years since a brief hashtag — #MeToo — galvanized a broad social movement. The Associated Press went back to Louisette Geiss and Andrea Constand, accusers in two of the #MeToo era's most momentous cases — Weinstein, already convicted in a New York case, and Bill Cosby, once convicted and now free — to learn how their lives have changed, whether they have any regrets, and how hopeful they feel after a decidedly mixed bag of legal results. The Associated Press does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused, unless they come forward publicly, as Geiss and Constand have. And we spoke to the woman who originally coined the phrase — Tarana Burke, a longtime advocate for sexual violence survivors and a survivor herself — about her own journey, the movement's resilience, and the challenges ahead. Louisette Geiss: A lawsuit and a musical All in all, Louisette Geiss considers herself one of the luckier ones: When she tried to run out of a hotel room to escape Harvey Weinstein's alleged advances, the door opened. She was able to flee. Geiss, a former actress and screenwriter who, in 2017, accused Weinstein of attempting to force her to watch him masturbate in a hotel bathroom in 2008, was the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against his former studio. But fighting through the justice system — an experience that has deeply frustrated her — was not the only means by which Geiss has attempted to cope. She's also written a musical. "The Right Girl" was waylaid by the pandemic but will be produced live onstage sometime in 2023. The show, with a high-profile production team that includes songwriter Diane Warren, tells the story of three women at various levels of power in a workplace plagued by a serial sexual predator. "In the end, you see that the judicial system is still not in the right place to take him down," Geiss said."It's really society that takes him down. " It's a reflection of Geiss' view that the latter has moved faster than the former to absorb the lessons of #MeToo, albeit still imperfectly. "I think the MeToo movement definitely gave predators pause to act on their inclinations," she said."I think that they have been warned. And so they are less likely to do it, but I do think they're still doing it." At times, yes, she regrets coming forward. She worries about the effects on her children, now 7 and 5 — her youngest was only weeks old when the case exploded. But it was also her children that made her realize she had to fight. "In the end, to make a bigger change for women and for children — for your child, and for my children — it was important that I step up and do it," she said. That's also why Geiss, 48, continues to encourage younger survivors to speak out — even though she understands why they may not want to. "You don't want your name to be synonymous with Weinstein. Neither do I," she said of her pitch to them."But guess what? They're not going to go away until we keep screaming about this." Andrea Constand: 'It was the right thing to do' Andrea Constand returns to the courtroom during a lunch break at the sentencing hearing for Bill Cosby on Sept. 24, 2018, at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. The jury convicted the aging TV star of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2005, but his conviction was later overturned on appeal. David Maialetti, Associated Press For Andrea Constand, the chief accuser in Cosby's criminal case, the past five years have been turbulent, to say nothing of the preceding decade. Cosby's lawyers loudly derided her as a"con artist" during the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era, in 2018. Yet the jury nonetheless convicted the aging comedian of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2005 and a judge sent him to prison. Then, a Pennsylvania appeals court freed Cosby last year. Constand had gone to police a year after the encounter with Cosby, which he called consensual. A prosecutor declined to press charges, later saying he had secretly promised Cosby he'd never be charged — a hotly debated claim that ultimately undid the conviction. And the first jury to hear her case, in 2017, couldn't reach a verdict. Through the yearslong storm, Constand has remained serene. She believes these are just early days for the movement. "I think it was a much-needed time to be able to address the issue (of) just how profound sexual violence is — in boardrooms, in corporations, in the entertainment industry and just generally all over," Constand, 49, said this month from her home near Toronto, a rural retreat that she says brings her solitude and peace. "A lot of trauma was released," she added."Keeping secrets can really can make you sick." She continues to work as a massage therapist, while pushing lawmakers to adopt a legal definition of consent. As jurors in both Cosby's Pennsylvania trial and Weinstein's in New York deliberated, they asked for the definition — but the law in both states was silent. She has written a memoir, and started a foundation to help sexual assault survivors through their physical, spiritual and emotional recovery. She has also created a mobile app where survivors can seek trauma-informed services. "I had everything to lose and nothing to gain. I was a loser, you know, really, going in," Constand said of her 2006 police complaint. But despite all the twists and turns,"it was the right thing to do," she concluded, citing #MeToo movements around the world. "You have … everybody coming out of that shame and out of that silence," she said. Tarana Burke: Keeping the momentum going MeToo founder Tarana Burke attends the TIME100 Gala celebrating the 100 most influential people in the world on June 8 in New York. Evan Agostini, Invision Harvey Weinstein. R. Kelly. Bill Cosby. Two are in prison, one has been freed. And that's exactly how not to measure the success of the #MeToo movement, says Tarana Burke — as a scorecard of high-profile"wins" and"losses," and through the lens of celebrity. Rather, says the advocate for sexual violence survivors, cultural change should be the key metric. And by that standard, she says, the movement has achieved an"awe-inspiring" amount in five years. "Five and a half years ago, we could not have a sustained global conversation about sexual violence that was framed inside social justice. It was always framed inside crime and punishment, or celebrity gossip," she said. Burke, 49, had coined"Me Too" as part of her advocacy work more than a decade before a hashtagged tweet from actor Alyssa Milano, in the wake of the Weinstein allegations, saw the phrase explode. Just six months earlier, Burke recalls, she had been on an organizing retreat in California, handing out T-shirts and dreaming aloud about how she could revitalize her work and raise enough money to tour Black colleges and universities to raise awareness. When the spotlight shifted to #MeToo later in 2017, her first worry was that the work behind her phrase would be coopted. But she soon realized she had an enormous opportunity. "The kind of shift we need to see sustainable change, we're still working toward. But the shift we've had in the last five years would have taken 20 years to happen (without #MeToo), and that's incredible," she said. Burke has spent the last few years building an organization to promote the movement, and has published a raw memoir,"Unbound," which includes an account of how she herself was raped at seven years old. Burke notes proudly that a new Pew study shows more than twice as many Americans support, rather than oppose, #MeToo. But, she says, struggles remain, especially in terms of bringing Black, Indigenous, trans and disabled women into the conversation, and in shoring up fundraising. The goal now is to keep momentum going and restore the early enthusiasm. Burke likes to remind people that within the first year, some 19 million people went on Twitter to say"me too," attesting to their own experiences in a powerful collective reckoning. "This is why we have a movement that cannot be ignored," Burke says. Snake on a plane leaves passengers 'shrieking' at Newark airport Although it sounds like a Hollywood plot, authorities didn't need help from"Snakes on a Plane" actor Samuel L. Jackson when an airline passenger found a snake underfoot after arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport. Police and operations employees met the plane at its gate early Monday afternoon"and removed the garden snake," the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told CNN. It said nobody was injured. A passenger onboard told News 12 The Bronx, a CNN affiliate, that"passengers in business class started shrieking and pulling their feet up" while the flight was taxiing. United Airlines tells CNN that crew members requested help from airport officials"after being alerted by passengers" to the snake. Listen now and subscribe: .