In Other News: Virtual volunteers offer help to strangers amid virus stress; TCM is bringing its classic film festival to your home

Published 11:23 am Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Editor’s note: “In Other News” is a list of state, national and global headlines compiled by Daily Citizen-News staff from Associated Press stories. Click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

They already had an anxiety disorder. Now comes a pandemic

NEW YORK — At first, Jonathon Seidl wasn’t worried about the coronavirus despite his anxiety disorder. But that changed. The 33-year-old digital media strategist from Dallas, who takes medication, said his concern was less about getting sick than about the battering the economy could sustain. Would he be able to feed his family? Would there be a run on food stores? He could not shake his worries. So he paced. His heart raced. He wanted to go to bed early “because sleep was the only respite.” But his sleep was rarely restful. “I would wake up during the night,” he said. The pandemic is worrisome enough for most people. For those with anxiety disorders, it presents a special challenge, especially if they are not receiving treatment.

Virtual volunteers offer help to strangers amid virus stress

WINTER PARK, Fla. — Sitting cross-legged in her living room, Donna Borak rested her palm on her heart as she guided a small group of virtual participants in meditation and deep breathing. Notice where you might be holding tension, she instructed. “Send your attention to your head … maybe acknowledging it’s OK if you’ve been worried and scared,” she told them “Maybe finding comfort that we are all in this together.” From her Washington, D.C., home, Borak has been hosting a free virtual meditation class daily for anyone who wants “a respite during such a moment of uncertainty.” Attendees are encouraged to bring children, loved ones or pets. “Even your plants.”

TCM is bringing its classic film festival to your home

LOS ANGELES — The folks at Turner Classic Movies had just decided they’d have to cancel their annual classic film festival when their general manager had an idea: What if they could do something else in recognition of the lost weekend? “It felt greedy to say, ‘Well why don’t we do this whole other thing?’” said Pola Changnon, the network’s general manager. Charles Tabash, the head of programming, told her he’d think about it. And less than 48 hours later, he came back with something even more ambitious: Three and a half days of films, special guest appearances and star-studded segments from past festivals to air in the comfort of viewers’ own homes. And with that, the TCM Classic Film Festival: Special Home Edition was born.

Too big to infect? Some US leaders defy virus guidelines

WASHINGTON — The State Department has advised against all international travel because of the coronavirus, but that didn’t stop Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from flying to Afghanistan this week. Gyms across the nation’s capital are shuttered, but Sen. Rand Paul, an eye doctor, still managed a workout at the Senate on Sunday morning as he awaited the results of a coronavirus test. It came back positive. The guidance against shaking hands? That hasn’t always applied to President Donald Trump, whose penchant for pressing the flesh continued even after public health officials in his administration were warning that such bodily contact could facilitate the spread of the contagious virus. Practice social distancing? Daily White House briefings involve Trump and other senior officials crowded around a podium.