Alaska on Monday reported 428 new COVID-19 cases Friday, Saturday and Sunday and no new deaths as hospitalizations dropped slightly. Since the pandemic arrived in Alaska in March 2020, 915 Alaskans and 31 nonresidents in the state have died from the virus. As of Monday, 65 COVID-positive people were hospitalized across Alaska, according to state data. The percentage of hospitalizations involving people who have tested positive for the virus is 6.7%. The state reported 67 people hospitalized with the virus as of Friday. Just over 67% of Alaskans 5 and older as well as military members have received at least one vaccine dose, while 60% of eligible Alaskans are considered fully vaccinated. About 20% have received a booster shot. As the new omicron variant prompts global concerns and contributes to a surge in New York, state health officials continue to encourage vaccinations and booster shots as the best way to protect against serious illness from COVID-19.  

PHOTOS: A bomb exploded on Nashville's historic Second Avenue in the early morning of Dec. 25, 2020. The blast damaged 65 buildings and displaced dozens of businesses and residents in a city already weary from a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and deadly tornadoes. After a year of investigation, painstaking demolition and community collaboration, the shells of the most-damaged buildings stand largely cleared of debris and ready for the 200-year-old street's next evolution. Multiple local, state and federal agencies investigated the explosion, ultimately identifying 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner as the bomber. Warner packed his RV with explosives and at 1:22 a.m. parked the vehicle in front of an AT&T switch facility, according to investigators.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Ann Mulkey's son Louis was one of the Charleston 9 firefighters. When Powell Roofing got a call from Mulkey, they decided to team up with some local businesses to give her a free roof. "Oh my gosh. I've never had anything like this happen to me, to this magnitude. And to do it because of Louis, you know, just made it that much more special," said Ann Mulkey. In June, Mulkey called Powell roofing for an estimate to get a brand new roof. It was pricey, so she decided to save for the project. "It's very important to get this roof done. I've been waiting to get it done for years and you know I've had patches and patches fixed. But I couldn't really do a full roof," she said. When Mulkey was ready to pay for the roof, she was told she didn't have to.  

Firefighting is in the blood of the Fanella family, stretching back four generations in Mount Carmel Township. Robert B. Fanella died at age 88 in 2014. His son Robert "Bob" Joseph Fanella, 63, his grandson Robert "Bobby" James Fanella, 40, and his great-grandson Ethan Robert Fanella, 19, are volunteer firefighters for the Atlas Fire Company and Natalie Fire Company in Mount Carmel Township. "It makes me proud," said Bob Fanella about his son and grandson becoming firefighters. Bob Fanella doesn't do any interior work anymore due to health reasons, but he said he is proud to see his son and grandson working together and entering buildings as father and son. The late Fanella was the first firefighter in the family. When he returned home from World War II, he joined the fire company and helped build the current building in the 1970s.  

In 2020, San Francisco fire stations revived a tradition from grandma and granddad's day, after a report from the Chronicle sounded the siren to bring back the SF fire station holiday decorations contest. That contest was scuttled in 1951 over some prudish backlash that the fire departments were spending more than their allotted $50 per station on decorations, but the Chronicle's report mustered up enough holiday cheer that the SF Fire Department decided to pull all the St. Nick stops again. The holiday decorations contest is bigger and better than ever in 2021, so SFist tromped out to all 44 San Francisco fire stations to get pictures and video of every single display. As of the fire department's most recent announcement, there are only 12 stations "officially entered" in the contest (The top three winners get $3,000, $2,000 or $1,000 to donate to the charity of their choice).  

The highly transmissible Omicron variant is now dominant in the United States, according to new data released by the CDC on Monday. The variant now makes up more than 73% of new infections, a nearly six-fold increase compared to the week before. Omicron makes up the highest share of new cases in the South, Central Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and the New York area. The steep rise of the Omicron variant comes as cases surge across the country, particularly in New York, which is reporting one in 10 new cases nationally. On Monday, the state reported its highest number of daily infections for the fourth consecutive day, and New York City is now averaging more daily infections since the pandemic began. But hospitalizations both in the city and statewide have yet to near pandemic records.