#caroline county

[revolutionarywarhistory]

The story of the Extra Regiment's ordinary soldiers: From McCay to Patton [Part 11]

Continued from part 10

The year of 1853: William Groves's wife, Mary, and Allegheny County

On May 25, 1853, Mary groves appeared before a judge of the orphans court of Allegheny County, living in the Westernport District, and said to be 77 years old, which is slightly different. She described Groves's military service, said that she married by Reverend Mayers in Prince William County, Virginia on November 20, 1796, with John Huff, Enoch Huff, Hannah Huff and & Rebecca McCune  present at the marriage. It is possible that these Huffs are related to those with the same last name in the Extra Regiment. She also said that she had four children with William: John (Dec. 1797-Sep. 1815), Rebecca (July 1800-June 1808), Jesse (b. June 17, 1803), and Dennis (b. Dec. 14, 1805). She also noted that William Groves died on Jan. 4, 1849, with the marriage taking place previous to Jan. 2, 180, and that she was a widow by 1783.

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog.

Other documents clarified the marriage date. On February 4, 1792, William Groves and John Hoff made a bond showing the marriage of William to Mary Spencer. In 1854 she said that her pension application she had misstated the time of the marriage since she knew that they were "married about two years or their about, before they "them ‘Whiskey Boys’ marched," and from that she said that they were married in 1796 but she found out later that they marched in 1794. Hence, saying they married in 1792 is correct. She further explains that William wanted to go and fight against the rebels but she did not consent for that, and he did not go, with them not having any "child or children untill about four or five years after they was married.” Further records say that William and Mary brought with them Mary's mother, Elizabeth Spencer who lived with them sometime before going back to a part of Virginia. The pension also says that William and Mary were married by Rev. William? Mayers, a Baptist preacher, after which the wedding party returned to his mother Elizabeth's house “and took Dinner as Customary at that time.” Furthermore, the pension certificate notes that Mary died on September 5, 1856.

There is a Maryland law in 1853 which mentions the estate of "the late Thomas J. Gadd" in Caroline County. It is not known if this is related to Thomas Gadd previously mentioned or not.

Concluding words

There are numerous other sources I could have consulted for this article. However, I did look at genealogical and first-person sources on the topic. There is no doubt that this article, while it is put into sort-of vignettes on each person or groups of people, tells a coherent story of these 11 soldiers after the war. As always, comments are welcome.

© 2016-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[filmap]

Oddity Damian Mc Carthy. 2014

House Bantry House, Seafield, Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland See in map

See in imdb

[captainchilly]

only 19.33% of registered voters in my county voted in the florida primaries 😐

[gracie-bird]

The Princely Family of Monaco in Ireland, June 1961.

[denisenini]

Laura Ingalls Wilder

[rockposerdotcom]

Arielle Joins Sir Brian May & Van Morrison For 'James Burton & Friends UK - For One Night Only'

Renowned rock & soul guitarist John Oates (Hall & Oates), Sir Brian May guitar prodigy Arielle and Monkees star Micky Dolenz are the latest musical icons to join legendary rock and roll guitarist James Burton for a special one-night-only concert at the iconic London Palladium on Sunday 4 June; ‘James Burton & Friends UK – For One Night Only’. Tickets are available…

[packedwithpackards]

"One of the Branches": E.P.W. Packard, Libby, Mental Health, and Barbara Sapinsley's clever storytelling

A compilation of three images I posted on Instagram back in mid-September 2023, of this book, before I began reading it. At the time, I wrote “it just arrived today: the first (I think) scholarly book on my #ancestor Elizabeth P.W. Packard, which came out in 1991. While there have been two other history books focused on Elizabeth since then (by Linda V. Carlisle and Kate Moore), this book by…

[petnews2day]

Hillsborough County residents share concerns over local dog breeder

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/IJBak

Hillsborough County residents share concerns over local dog breeder

It’s a case that’s caused concern for some people in Hillsborough County involving Caroline Browning, the owner of Tutu Cute Doodles. “This is a local breeder in the FishHawk Ranch community that just basically got very large and now is involving so many different animals, so many puppies, there are so many dogs involved in […]

See full article at https://petn.ws/IJBak #DogNews #CarolineBrowning, #FishHawkRanch, #HillsboroughCounty, #TutuCuteDoodles

[mddeck]

MD Deck Locations in Caroline County, MD

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-caroline-county-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-denton-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-federalsburg-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-goldsboro-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-greensboro-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-henderson-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-marydel-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-preston-md/

https://mddeck.co/deck-builders-ridgely-md/

[uniqueartisanconnoisseur]

Shipshewana Shopping!

So, spectacular shopping shines in Shipshewana! Are you getting the gist of all these s’s! Enough of that I know, but if you are looking for gifts for the holiday, head to Indiana Amish Country for the best artisan crafted gifts around! On a recent hosted trip to Shipshewana with other Midwest Network Travel Bloggers, Visit Shipshewana’s Sonya Nash led us to a plethora of fun places to find the…

[suchananewsblog]

Tamra Judge slams Teresa Giudice on her podcast: ‘Not today, jailbird’

Tamra Judge bashed Teresa Giudice after the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star called her a “bad friend.” “Sit down, shut up like you’re doing right now at the reunion,” the “Real Housewives of Orange County” star said to Giudice on Friday’s episode of her “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast with Teddi Mellencamp. The reality star added that she usually tries to “ignore” any negative comments but thought…

[ianchisnall]

This week FareShare could benefit from many of us

This week FareShare could benefit from many of us

This week is a financial campaign for FareShare Sussex that is a charity that is based in Brighton but which covers the whole of Sussex and also many parts of Surrey. FareShare is an organisation that I helped to set up following suggestions from several groups that included a significant company that provides food shops across the UK. They had food available for poor people but they needed an…

[cosmopretty]

Finally Reunited

Caroline Harvey x Fem

Synopsis: You and Caroline both haven’t been spending any time together recently due to being in difference counties and you come surprise her.

Recently neither you or Caroline have had a break, with her long hockey practices and pre season workouts. Then with your studying and modeling gigs you have been moving around for a while for companies. Yeah you both texted and called every day but it wasn’t the same, and it showed when Caroline would mess up durning practice because her head wasn’t in the game. It’s not her fault that all she could think about was you, and she told you every detail about it.

Which is what led you to getting a plane ticket from Paris, France to Wisconsin, USA. You didn’t want to tell Caroline you were coming instead deciding to surprise her. Laila knew you were coming since she helped you plan this surprise for KK.

Boarding the Plane you see a FaceTime call from your girlfriend, not wanting to spoil the surprise you decline it and go find your seat on the plane.

“What the fuck” Caroline mumbles calling you not once but three times. Laila comes behind her and looks at her phone “She’s probably busy KK” the taller girl shrugs trying to not sound suspicious in any way.

Caroline rolls her eyes “Yeah whatever” she drops her phone on her bag and goes back on the ice to counting practice not noting Laila’s suspicious smile behind her.

Once your plane lands, you check the time and notice you have about an hour before Caroline’s practice ends at 5:30pm. You get an Uber down to the dorms, your girlfriend’s dorm to be specific, you walk in and go straight to her room leaving your suitcase there and changing into a new outfit. One of KK’s badger hoodies with her jersey number on the back and a pair of black shorts.

Leaving her apartment you walk, well more like speed walk down to the rink, where Laila told you the team would be today. Excited was an understatement to what you were feeling, your hands kept shaking. Soon enough you open the doors to the rink quietly trying not to make any noise.

The team was split into two groups versing each other, you get into the box and stand next to coach. She looks down at you and smiles “Your back? How was Paris?” she asks you looking away from you and back on the ice. Shrugging your shoulder you follow her eyesight down to the rink “It was okay, stressful. How’s the team been these past few weeks?” you ask her.

Coach laughs shaking her head “The team would be better if my star player wasn’t distracted all the time, daydreaming” she raises her brows looking down at you the pointing subtly to Caroline. You suck in a breath of air, scratching the back of your neck “My bad” you mumble laughing. She rolls her eyes at you before, you both move your eyes back onto the rink watching the girls play.

Laila stands confidently in the goal, watching as Laney skates down the ice with the puck, your girlfriend follows on the other side. Laney passes the puck to KK, who pushes through Ava and slams her stick across the ice hitting the puck into the goal.

You start clapping jumping up and down next to coach in the box. Caroline head immediately turns towards you recognizing your cheers, she takes her helmet off and drops it, a smile of shock forming on her face.

She immediately runs towards the box, forgetting she’s on ice skates. One minute she standing up straight the next she’s face down on the ice goaning. Everyone starts laughing at the poor girl while you walk up to her slowly on the ice so you don’t fall too. You let out a laugh that the sight of her lying down on the ice, looking like she gave up. You lend her your hand expecting her to take it so you can help her up. Instead her hand wraps around your wrist pulling you down on top of her so her arms can wrap around you in a bear hug.

She rolls on top of you pushing your body down on the cold ice, you squeal “KK baby I missed you too but I’m turning into a popsicle here it’s cold ” you squeal gripping onto her biceps. The girl gets off you for a second, moving to grab her helmet.

Laney comes over and grabs both your outstretched hands, pulling you up. The second your on both of your feet she pulls you into a hug “We missed you so much, KK never shuts up about you” she whispers laughing at KK who was staring at you both annoyed.

Caroline comes over and pulls you from Laney “Yeah enough y’all can see her later she’s mine again I missed her the most” she says gripping the back of your thighs signaling you to jump. You jump into her arms, your legs wrapping around her waist. She carries you off the ice as you wave to all the girls “When KK’s done acting like a baby I’ll come over” you yell to them across the ice.

She carries you all the way to the locker room dropping you onto the bench, so she can change out of her uniform. You bite your lip staring at her abs, and of course she notices “Like what you see baby?” she teases you turning around to face you fully.

“Yeah I do. I really did miss you Caroline more than anything, it was like it physically hurt to be away from you. That’s how much I love you.” You admit to her looking up at her through your lashes standing up, from the bench.

Her eyes drop down to your lips before going back up to your eyes “I know what you mean, it hurt so much to not be able to hold you in my arms. I love you more than anything so- uh why don’t we move in together? You know get our own apartment.”

Caroline’s hands fidget with each other as she looks down at your waiting for your reaction. Your mother opens in shock for a moment “Yes of course let’s move in together KK” you squeal wrapping your arms around her shoulders pulling her down into a kiss. Her lips touch yours for the first time in weeks, your stomach fills with butterflies. You open your mouth giving her room to slide her tongue in, her big hands grin your waist pulling your impossible closer to her.

The locker door flies open and you pull away from each other fast as you hear her tempests yelling. Laney shakes her head “OooO spicy maybe try it in your own room next time” she says walking in and holding the door open for everyone else.

Caroline rolls her eyes “You jealous?” she asks grabbing her hockey bag and putting it in the locker along with her stick. Laney sticks her tongue out at her teammates and grabs your waist “You know I could steal her in a heartbeat” Laney says giggling. You nod your head “Laney your the love of my life let’s runaway together” you gasp falling in her arms.

Laila snorts “You guys are so dumb” she laughs looking over at KK who was laughing at you and Laney. You wrap your arm around Caroline’s waist and wave to everyone “We’re leaving see you guys” you tell everyone dragging her out of the locker room down to her car.

Opening the passenger door for you like always you smile at KK in thanks before getting in and letting her close the door. The drive between the both of you was quiet, just enjoying each other’s presence, fingers interlinked on your lap. Your thumb rubs back and forth on her knuckles “So where are we going baby?” you ask her looking up from your lap to her. She turns away from the road for a moment, making eye contact with you “It’s a surprise just wait ma, you’ll like it I promise” she tells you bringing your interlinked hands to her lips, kissing your hand then bringing it down to your lap.

Trusting her words you relax in the seat of her car, you watch her drive the two of you. Soon enough she parks the car on the side of the road and gets out opening the door for you. She wraps her arm around your shoulders and you follow her moving your arm so it’s around her waist. Looking around at all the stores and diners you gasp “Are we going to that cute cafe that just opened please say we are” you beg her looking at her.

She smirks “Yeah it’s the one I told you about on FaceTime the other day” she informs you pulling you impossibly closer to you. You squeal moving in front of her and hugger her your arms around her neck “I love you so much” you whisper as her arms shake their way around your waist.

“I love you more and your sweet tooth” she teases you her words muffled by the way her head was in your neck. She pulls away “Come on let’s go before they close at eight” she grabs your arm pulling you inside the cafe.

You’re in awe at all the assortments of baked goods, you smile at KK “I have never loved you more than this moment” you tell her putting your hand on your chest. She laughs at you “They have those marble cakes you love so much” she tells you.

“I was wrong” you grab her hand going to sit down outside so you both can wait for a waitress to come serve you both. KK pulls out your chair for you then sits right in front of you. She pulls your hand into her holding it “I missed you so much I hated knowing that you wouldn’t be home with me. But how was Paris and all your jobs?” She asks you wanting to know how everything went for you.

You smile opening your mouth to speak before the waitress comes over “What can I get you both tonight?” she smiles sweetly at the two of you. Caroline nods at you to go first “Can I have hot chocolate with a slice of marble cake please” you tell her nicely your parents taught you to always have good manners.

The waitress nods writing down your order “And you?” she asks looking at your girlfriend. Caroline looks at you then back at the worker “I’ll have vanilla iced coffee and the brownie Sunday thank you” she says. The waitress nods and walks away from both of you back inside.

Caroline looks at you waiting for you to tell her about your time away from her. “Paris was beautiful and the girls I worked with were so sweet I made a few new friends who live in New York, so I’ll probably go meet them soon. I told them all about you I could never stop talking about you, you know” you blush a bit at your own words.

She awes “That’s cute baby how was work everything went well right?” she asks you always checking up on you and wanting to make sure your okay. You nod “It was stressful with all the companies I had to work for some were kind of rude but I met the Dior ambassador and she gave me her number. She’s gonna call me because she said she loved my look and wants me to model for Dior some more so that’s really exciting” you tell her your words filled with excitement and raw emotion.

That’s what KK loved about you, how passionate you were with the things you loved. The waitress comes back handing you both your orders before walking away. You take a bite and moan causing Caroline to choke on her drink “Baby if you’re gonna make the sound it’s gonna be from me not some cake” you shrug at her words smiling. The two of you ate your desserts together talking about anything and everything before leaving the cafe to go back to her dorm, KK eager to get you all alone.

[cyber-dump-171]

Prologue: Distress Call

The End is Near (Gravity Falls x Reader)

Masterlist | Chapter 1 →

Word count: 1.2 k.

WARNING: Violence, monsters and blood.

Note: thank you for stopping by and reading! Comments, likes, and reblogs are greatly appreciated! For those who come from my profile and are waiting for Chapter 6 of OSYGM, it's on its way!

══════════════════

ROADKILL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Transcript of 911 distress call

10/2/1980 - 1:13 A.M.

────────────────────────

RW: Rita Woorley, Dispatcher.

CS: Caroline Simmons, Victim.

JS: Jeremy Simmons, Victim (?).

────────────────────────

RW: 911, where’s your emergency?

CS: *heavy breathing* *clothing shifting* *distant objects clattering*

RW: Hello? Is anyone there?

CS: *heavy breathing* *distant clatter*

RW: *sighs* For God’s sake, these kids and their pranks.

CS: Please… help me…

RW: Hello? Ma’am, what’s the address of your emergency?

CS: Trantow Fields, house 131 in Gravity Falls. I’m Caroline Simmons and I-I need police here… Just, please, hurry. *distant door banging* 

RW: *typing* Alright, and what’s the emergency?

CS: *rapid breathing* It’s my husband… I don’t know what’s happening… Oh God- *distant clatter* *a male voice screaming*

RW: Police are on their way, ma’am. Tell me what’s happening.

CS: I-I don’t know… he’s gone insane… he was fine this mornin’, s-sick with a bug but he was his chipper self. But-

JS: *distant shout* CAROLINE! LET ME OUT, SWEETIE!

RW: Ma’am, are you in a safe place?

CS: *hyperventilating* Y-Yes! I barricaded the bedroom, where he’s at… *heavy breathing* I-I locked myself in the kitchen. *crying*

RW: Ok. Take a deep breath, ma’am. Police are around five minutes away from where you are. Keep walking me through what happened. 

CS: *heavy breathing* S-Sorry… I… I woke up to him holding a knife… h-he… he… *distant hurried banging* he tried to stab me… H-He had crazy eyes… his mouth was bleedin’, I think he bit his lip too hard… *loud crash*

RW: Ma’am?

JS:  CAROLINE! *door falling* *distant hurried footsteps*

CS: Oh my God… h-he broke the door… HE BROKE THE DOOR! SOMEBODY! SAVE ME!

RW: Ma’am, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath. Is your husband still armed?

CS: No… I took the knife from him. Oh my God… what happened to my Jeremy? *crying*

RW: Ma’am, take a deep breath. Police are close.

CS: *whispering* *hyperventilating* I think he’s downstairs… I-I can hear him… *footsteps grow louder*

RW: Ma’am, remain calm.

CS: *heavy breathing* *loud distant footsteps*

CS: *soft knocking* *muffled bizarre breathing*

JS: Caroline? Honey, it’s me… There’s something wrong… I don’t know what’s happening to me…

CS: *crying* Jeremy… Please don’t hurt me…

JS: Sweetie, I need you to open the door, please…

RW: Ma’am, do not open the door. Police are close.

CS: *hysterical crying* YOU’RE NOT MY JEREMY!

JS: Caroline, I know you’re scared, but please, I need you to open the door. 

CS: *hysterical crying*

JS: Darling? Do you remember our wedding vows where I promised to always protect you?

CS: *crying* Y-Yes, I-I remember.

JS: I can’t protect you if the door’s closed… So please, open it. I want to see you.

CS: *sniffling* *heavy breathing* *phone clatters on the floor*

RW: Ma’am, do not open the door… Hello?

CS: Please… Jeremy, love, don’t hurt me. *kitchen door opens*

JS: I’m so sorry for scaring you, darling. *distorted breathing*

CS: …

RW: Ma’am? Are you there? Hello?

*Call is abruptly disconnected*

══════════════════

ROADKILL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Transcript of 911 distress call

10/2/1980 - 1:27 A.M.

────────────────────────

EK: Elmer Kain, Dispatcher.

DM: Dylan Moss, Victim.

LW: Lawrence Woodworth, Victim.

KB: Kyle Baker, Victim.

UM: Unidentified Male.

────────────────────────

EK: 911, what’s your emergency?

DM: HOLY SHIT! FINALLY! WE NEED AN AMBULANCE! HURRY!

EK: Sir, remain calm, what’s your location?

DM: W-W-We are at a… *heavy breathing* fuck, sorry, at Gravity Falls High School! Please hurry, somebody’s bleeding to death!

LW: *distant* Kyle, do not fall asleep!

EK: *typing*  An ambulance is on its way. Walk me through what’s happening.

DM: W-We were working on a f-final project and was g-getting late so we went to drop our friend Kyle at his house! B-But this fucking thing... it just- *crying*

LW: *distant* S-Something came out of the forest and tore K-Kyle’s stomach out!

EK: Were you able to catch sight of what it was?

DM: *crying* We don’t know! I-It was too f-fucking dark… I… we… I’m so fucking scared!

LW: *distant* I-It looked human, but it… it wasn’t human? I-I don’t know! It had huge claws!

KB: *coughing* * groaning in pain*

EK: What’s the current state of your friend?

DM: *crying* H-He’s breathing but his stomach is just… gone… it’s like a… *retches*... pile of mush o-on the floor. *retches*

EK: Take a deep breath… are you applying pressure to the wound?

DM: *crying* I-I’m so scared…

LW: *distant* W-We are! We tied m-my hoodie and I-Im’ pressing on it but he’s getting paler!

KB: *coughing* I want my mom…

DM: *crying* H-Hold on, man. H-Help is on the way…

EK: The ambulance is five minutes away, keep applying pressure. Do not hang up the phone.

DM: *branches and leaves snapping* *distant footsteps* … what the fuck?

LW: *distant* DYLAN! LOOK AT THE FUCKING FOREST!

DM: … Kyle? But… he’s right here… what?

EK: What’s happening?

KB: *distant coughing* *crying* Mom…

LW: *distant* GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM US!

EK: Hello? What’s going on?

DM: *distant footsteps* Holy shit… it’s… I… it’s Kyle, but… Kyle’s also… bleeding on the floor.

EK: What? I don’t quite understand.

UM: *distorted crying* Mom…

LW: *distant* FUCK! WHAT DO WE DO!?

DM: I DON’T KNOW! HELP… PLEASE!

UM: *distorted crying* I want my mom…

EK: What’s happening? Dylan?

DM: *incoherent screams* *distorted roar*

*Call is abruptly disconnected*

══════════════════

ROADKILL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Transcript of 911 distress call

10/2/1980 - 1:33 A.M.

────────────────────────

KJ: Keneth Jarvis, Dispatcher.

TB: Tabitha Roberts, Victim.

UF: Unidentified Female.

────────────────────────

KJ: 911, where’s your emergency?

TB: *distant glass tapping* Hello? My name is Tabitha Roberts, I live on Oakley Road, house 28 in Gravity Falls. I need the cops.

KJ: Alright miss, what’s the emergency?

TB: *distant glass tapping* Someone… no, scratch that, something is trying to break into my house.

KJ: *typing* Uh, sorry… I’m a bit confused by your statement. “Something” is trying to break in?

TB: *distant glass tapping* I… I just don’t even know how to describe it. I got home from work about twenty minutes ago when I heard something banging on my backyard door.

KJ: Uh-huh.

TB: *distant glass tapping* I opened the curtains and… well… you’re definitely not going to believe this but… something that looks like me is trying to smash the glass and come in.

KJ: … Pardon?

TB: *distant glass tapping* I know it sounds insane but you have to believe! The weird part is that it looks like me but at the same time, there’s something wrong… I can’t place it… I think it’s the eyes… the skin looks loose…

KJ: Uh… O-Ok miss, a unit has been dispatched to your place, please stay on the line. Are you in a safe place?

TB: *distant glass tapping* No, I’m in the living room, it’s the only place where I have a landline. I’m staring at the… thing… Jesus Christ, it doesn’t even fucking blink!

TB: *distant glass banging* *sound of glass cracking* Oh God… the glass… it has a crack…

KJ: Miss? 

TB: *distant glass banging*  FUCK! IT’S BREAKING THE GLASS! 

KJ: Miss, remain calm. Do you have a place where you can hide?

TB: *glass breaks* FUCK! HELP ME! PLEASE! IT’S COMING AT ME!

KJ: Miss, find a place to hide, police are on their way.

TB: *incoherent screams* *glass and furniture breaking* GET OFF ME!

KJ: Miss, what’s going on?

TB: *something is smashed against the ground* …

KJ: Miss Tabitha? Is everything alright?

TB: … *footsteps*

KJ: Hello? Miss Tabitha?

UF: *distorted* Hello? My name is Tabitha Roberts, I live on Oakley Road, house 28 in Gravity Falls. I need the cops.

*Call is abruptly disconnected*

══════════════════

Tag list:

@rotknox

[covid-safer-hotties]

The US Government Has Abandoned Us to Endless COVID. We Can Do Better. - Published Aug 10, 2024

The pandemic isn’t over. Why is it so hard to find accurate information about it?

This week, Nassau County, New York, passed a mask ban. Those wearing face masks will now face the possibility of up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine. Angry at the power of anti-genocide protests, lawmakers banned one of the most basic forms of disease protection just as the world is experiencing a record surge in COVID cases. While officials insist that the law will not be used against those masking for medical reasons, disabled activists protesting the move say they were intentionally coughed on during the city council meeting where the bill was passed.

In a world of airborne contagious diseases, everyone has a medical reason for masking. So why doesn’t our public health policy recognize that?

In 2020, at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, then-President Donald Trump was excoriated for saying that “when you test, you create more cases.” This statement was met with outcry by journalists and public health professionals and pundits from all major outlets.

Trump’s statements and policies on COVID were regularly and widely critiqued. In October 2020, CNN launched a tracker of “every time Trump said that the coronavirus pandemic was over, but it wasn’t,” which juxtaposed Trump’s words with the number of new cases in the United States.

Since President Joe Biden took office, many of the same things that Trump was excoriated for have been implemented as policy. In September 2022, Biden suddenly declared the pandemic over at the Detroit Auto Show, and in May 2023, Congress ended the federal emergency. Both moves were unrelated to any data about case numbers, yet no similar media outcry about premature or imaginary declarations has dogged the Biden administration.

Trump’s outrageous argument that if the U.S. collected less data, the picture would be rosier has been made into official policy under the Biden administration: As of May 1, 2024, hospitals are no longer required to report admissions, and most of the other data collection infrastructure on COVID test rates, like local dashboards and easily readable trackers on cases and deaths, has already disappeared.

By mid-July 2024, it was possible for Biden to have an active case of COVID and to claim that he is going home to isolate while simultaneously appearing on video in a group of people unmasked, without major media outlets blinking an eye about this contradiction. At this point in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website is no longer a go-to place for clear COVID information, but instead muddies the difference between COVID and the common cold in its prevention recommendations. As Caroline Hugh, an epidemiologist who volunteers for the Public Health Collective, told Truthout, it is hard to know what’s going on because the “picture has gotten a lot fuzzier and a lot more complicated.”

As Supports for COVID Sunset, Access Is Obstructed It is worth stating explicitly that the COVID pandemic is decidedly not over, despite the end of the U.S. federal emergency. The policy and response have changed, without any real relationship to changes in the illness and how it affects people.

The basic facts about COVID have not evolved that much: It is a highly contagious airborne disease, tight-fitting masks are effective, regular vaccinations are helpful in avoiding more serious illness, and isolation (some experts insist longer than five days) is warranted to avoid getting other people sick. It can cause death and long-term or permanent disability.

What has changed in the last four years is that it has become harder and harder for people to remain clear on this information and to put these basic guidelines into practice. The information about the risks of COVID and how to avoid them has gone from being mainstream advice to countercultural information that people have to search out. In this information-poor environment, the risks to disabled people, to those who work directly with the public (disproportionately BIPOC people) and anyone else with an increased COVID risk level are dramatically increased.

It is also now much harder to put this information into practice as government and institutional support for COVID safety practices has all but evaporated. Tools that were used earlier in the pandemic like free testing, masks and vaccines, have almost all been phased out, often shifting the financial burden for these to individual patients. The expectation to work while sick has been reimposed. The public has repeatedly been told “we have the tools,” but with tens of millions of people kicked off Medicaid in 2024, Paxlovid — a rapid treatment that reduces the risks of the infection — is difficult to obtain for most people, and expensive for almost everyone. Even the Bridge Access program, which funded COVID vaccinations for those without private insurance to cover them, is sunsetting this fall. “It is absolutely unaffordable to get COVID for the vast majority of working Americans, for people who are not working, who are retired and disabled on SSDI, on a limited income, on SSI. This is a catastrophic cost to be exposed to right now,” Beatrice Adler-Bolton, coauthor of Health Communism and co-host of the podcast “Death Panel,” told Truthout.

One of the ways that misleading information becomes normalized is by making it challenging for people to act on any other information.

“Immunity Debt” and Other Commonly Circulated Myths With the disappearance of supports and these changes to the mainstream media narrative, it has become harder to feel sure about COVID. The dramatic wind down of data available has been coupled with a major shift in framing from the CDC, which has communicated in ways that fail to counter the U.S. public’s widespread turn toward a mentality that is resonant with Trump’s misleading push for “herd immunity” in 2020.

While the CDC does acknowledge that “reinfection can occur as early as several weeks after a previous infection,” much of its recent messaging on COVID has tended to bolster the widespread public sense that hospitalization and COVID deaths have largely decreased because of immunity from prior infection or vaccinations. (Only 28 percent of adults in the U.S. are up to date on COVID vaccinations.) For example, PEW Research Center cited the CDC in its statement that “The vast majority of Americans have some level of protection from the coronavirus because of vaccination, prior infection or a combination of the two. This has led to a decline in severe illness from the disease.”

Adam Moore, a virologist working towards a Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis, says that while this claim is accurate, the overall framing is “dishonest” because it underemphasizes how quickly natural immunity can wane after a COVID infection. He also argues that this frame underemphasizes how COVID can have serious impacts on a person’s immune system and their ability to fend off any kind of illness.

Fundamentally, it is complicated to assess why fewer people are being hospitalized or dying of COVID despite continued high rates of circulation. The reason is not necessarily solely related to immunity (through exposure or vaccination), especially given the disease’s quick evolution that has resulted from the failure to contain it.

The data collection on who has been hospitalized or even died with an active case of COVID has also become less reliable, as many hospitals no longer report all COVID cases, but instead make a distinction between people hospitalized “with COVID” and people hospitalized “for COVID.” And, undercounting of deaths has been a pattern throughout the pandemic.

Most importantly, experts who spoke to Truthout emphasized that death and acute illness like hospitalization are not the only serious outcomes from an illness. Most of us would like to avoid serious injury, traumatic events and long-term disability that fall outside the purview of the basic and extreme indicator of death. Pandemic indicators and figures that do not tell us how many people are developing or living with long COVID, for example, fall far short of offering a complete picture of the risk of COVID infection.

The push for “herd immunity” to COVID is only one of several common misleading ideas about immunity. Another is immunity debt, the claim that if a person missed getting a cold or respiratory virus in 2021 they were more susceptible to getting sick in 2022. Immunity debt, although popularized in some media outlets, is not a scientifically accepted idea. The immune system is a not a “muscle that needs exercise to get stronger,” explained Moore.

COVID goes against a lot of what people in the United States have been told about viruses and what has come to be common sense. The most common viruses in the U.S. are seasonal, but COVID circulates year-round, more like tropical viruses. Moore highlights that this makes COVID fundamentally different from the flu and, crucially, the vaccination cycle for the flu, where annual vaccination works because it can account for the variants that have evolved in the opposite hemisphere. Since COVID circulates everywhere year-round, annual vaccinations are not enough to keep up on the latest variants. Beatrice Adler-Bolton adds that COVID surges in the United States are not related to seasons but rather to moments of intense travel, like Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, the holidays in November and December, and Spring Break.

Good Information Is Available — If You Know Where to Look The people who spoke to Truthout for this story recommended many sources of robust, trustworthy information about COVID. These sources are not invested in making sure the economy continues going as it is, which has been one of the biggest reasons government and mainstream sources misrepresent COVID data. Many also have a commitment to disability and racial justice and are actively organizing for improved public health information and infrastructure.

Recommended resources include Noha Aboelata and Roots Community Health’s “people’s health updates” on YouTube; Ground Truths, the newsletter of Eric Topol; The Sick Times, a weekly newsletter focusing on Long COVID; and Adler-Bolton’s podcast, “Death Panel,” which provides regular deep dives and analysis of COVID policy.

Local mask blocs are another good source of information. These local mutual aid groups provide low-cost or free masks to community members (via bulk purchasing), and they share a lot of locally relevant information about COVID (often on Instagram).

Nationally, groups like the People’s CDC, the Public Health Collective and the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative are synthesizing technical information and sharing it to a wider community with a disability justice lens. Hugh highlighted the importance of reading and combining a variety of information, rather than relying on a single source.

Repetition Is a Democratic Power The most powerful part of COVID disinformation is its simple repetition through multiple channels constantly, says Adler-Bolton. But repetition can work both ways. Those pushing for more accurate COVID information that allows everyday people to be in solidarity with one another can also use this power of repetition, but “we have to be relentless.”

Undoing the damage of bad information is difficult, because “breaking the mystification of disinformation” can’t be done by simply changing the information that goes through those same media channels, said Adler-Bolton. Instead, people must work with each other through personal connection. “There is a kind of trust that we can build between each other that goes further than the trust any one person can have with any media project, no matter how good the project is.”

Information that rejects ableism and white supremacy raises the stakes by asking people to reject the comforts they have been promised by racial capitalism. Sharing that information with each other is part of a collective struggle for disability and racial justice.