NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 12, 2026--
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield today launches their annual Back-to-School Campaign, bringing free community events to families across Queens and the Metropolitan New York area. Designed to prepare students for a healthy return to school, the campaign highlights the importance of health screenings, wellness resources, and family engagement as critical components of academic success. The events will take place at Anthem’s Community Service Centers in Jamaica on August 12 th and Flushing on August 17 th. Anthem will partner with Comunidad LatinX at a special Back-to-School event in Astoria on August 19 th as the exclusive health insurance partner among dozens of sponsors and partners.
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"Our kids can't succeed in school if they aren't well prepared with supplies and well when it comes to their health," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "Thank you to our friends at Anthem for being on the ground in our communities to ensure that our families have the information and resources they need to make this upcoming school year as healthy and productive as possible."
Joining Anthem in their Queens events are Queens Library, Child Center of NY, Jamaica Community Partnership, Public Health Solutions, and many others. This year’s campaign builds on the success of last year’s initiative when over 100,000 school supplies and 10,000 books were distributed. Each event offers tailored support for school-bound children and their families, including free health-focused giveaways, wellness education, and access to local service providers.
“Backpacks and pencils are important—but so is a clean bill of health,” said Dr. Christy Valentine Theard, President of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid and Medicare in New York. “These events are about more than supplies. They connect families with the care and information they need to help their children thrive—inside and outside the classroom.”
Beginning today and running through September 9 th, the series spans urban and suburban communities and includes partnerships with local school districts and nonprofit organizations. Health-related offerings include hygiene kits, vision and hearing screenings (where available), mental health referrals, and wellness education.
In addition to these events, Anthem will again partner with Optimum and Warner Bros. Discovery News12 for their branded Back-to-School events in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Westchester, and Nassau County. News12 will feature select events through on-site coverage, capturing the voices and stories of the families and local organizations making a difference. News12 is a 24-hour hyper-local news, weather, traffic, and sports cable channel in metropolitan New York.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Serving New Yorkers for 90 years, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield HP is on a mission to materially and measurably improve the health of New Yorkers. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield HP is the trade name of Anthem HP, LLC. Independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc., serving residents and businesses in the 17 eastern and southeastern counties of New York state. Additional information about Anthem is available at www.anthem.com. Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield associates celebrate with New York students as they return to school.
The man charged with killing Charlie Kirk shouldn’t get the death penalty because the shooter “hit the intended target” and no one else was endangered when the conservative activist was shot from a rooftop at an event in Utah last year, his lawyers said.
Defendant Tyler Robinson's attorneys say the bullet traveled above the crowd of several thousand people at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 and “there were no threats to others.” Whether the shooting endangered the crowd is a key issue: Prosecutors cited the risk that other people could have been harmed as an aggravating factor under state law that makes Kirk's killing a capital crime.
“The only evidence presented supports that the bullet traveled above, not through, the crowd,” defense attorneys wrote in documents filed late Tuesday as the defense tries to block the case from proceeding to trial.
Prosecutors have said numerous people were within a “zone of danger” around Kirk, where a stray or ricocheting bullet could have hurt anyone close to the victim.
The defense lawyers also disputed claims that Robinson targeted Kirk over his political views. Prosecutors allege Robinson told his roommate that he killed the activist because he “had enough of his hatred.” But the defense said that was not enough to prove what motivated Robinson, after searches of his apartment, computers and telephone failed to produce anything beyond that one statement.
Prosecutors last month during a weeklong hearing presented what they call “overwhelming” evidence against Robinson, including DNA tests that tie him to the suspected murder weapon and apparent confessions by the defendant.
His attorneys questioned the reliability of the DNA tests and other evidence. They didn't offer any alternative theories for Kirk's assassination, and made no mention of DNA in Tuesday's filing.
Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and has not yet entered a plea. He turned himself in a day after Kirk was killed.
His defense attorneys previously tried to get the death penalty taken off the table after prosecutors were found to be in contempt of court for talking about the case to the media. State District Judge Tony Graf rejected that request.
In documents filed last month, prosecutors said the fact that Robinson loaded his rifle with four bullets showed that he knew he could miss Kirk, “thereby putting others in danger.”
But defense attorneys said “it is just as likely that the shooter did not believe he would miss.”
Robinson faces possible sentence enhancements if prosecutors can prove he targeted Kirk because of his politics. They contend that Kirk’s strong opposition to same-sex marriage and gender transitioning stood in contrast to Robinson, who was in a romantic relationship with a roommate, Lance Twiggs. Twiggs told investigators that he had been considering transitioning around the time that Kirk was killed, according to prosecutors.
Twiggs also told investigators that Robinson sometimes talked about politics, including President Donald Trump. Yet Twiggs said he never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting. The defendant also did not talk much about gender issues or LGBTQ+ rights, Twiggs said. The AP emailed Twiggs’ attorney seeking comment.
Closing arguments in the preliminary hearing are scheduled for Sept. 1. Graf will then decide if the case can go to trial and on what charges. Lawyers for Kirk’s family have asked Graf to make his decision by or on Sept. 1 so the case can proceed.
Prosecutors have until Aug. 18 to respond to the latest defense arguments. The Associated Press left telephone and email messages with the Utah County Attorney’s Office seeking comment.
Preliminary hearings typically don’t last so long. Legal experts said the slow pace reflects a cautious approach by Graf, the large volume of evidence and a desire by prosecutors to disprove conspiracy theories around the case.
FILE - Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, on Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf speaks during a preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, at the Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, July 8, 2026. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Tyler Robinson, accused of fatally shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on June 12, 2026. (Francisco Kjolseth /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
