March 1, 2021 3:34 pm
GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief says it’s “premature” and “unrealistic” to think that the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year. But Dr. Michael Ryan said Monday that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death. Ryan said that the world’s focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible. WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “regrettable” that younger and healthier people in rich countries are being vaccinated before at-risk health workers in the developing world. He warned against complacency, noting a recent increase in cases.
March 1, 2021 5:39 am
(WPXI)- One person was pulled through the window of a burning home and another jumped to safety late Sunday night in Monessen, officials said. Flames broke out about 11:30 p.m., destroying the home in the 1000 block of State Road. A man who was inside the home jumped from a window to get out, officials said. Firefighters climbed through a window to rescue a woman. Both individuals were taken to an area hospital. There has been now word on how serious their injuries are. A dog died in the fire, officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
March 1, 2021 4:25 am
Nearly 4 million doses of the newest COVID-19 vaccine will be shipped Sunday night, and will begin to be delivered to states for injections starting on Tuesday. The White House said the entire stockpile of the newly approved single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will go out immediately. J&J will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and 100 million total by the end of June, but the distribution would be backloaded. Though the new shot is easier to administer and requires only one dose, the administration is not altering its distribution plans.
March 1, 2021 4:25 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Glam was back for the Golden Globes virtual, bicoastal awards night as nominees Zoomed in from around the world. Leslie Odom Jr. was a little closer Sunday night – on his porch in Los Angeles not far from the action in Beverly Hills. And the celebs were ready, style wise, as the Globes split hosts, with Amy Poehler at the Beverly Hilton and Tina Fey at the Rainbow Room in New York. Amanda Seyfried, in Savannah, Georgia, wore a sunny, springy coral Oscar de la Renta with floral adornment. Regina King’s dog snoozed in the background before the show as she showed off her Louis Vuitton gown. Jason Sudeikis was a glam outlier in a tie-dye hoodie. (Photo: CNN)
March 1, 2021 4:23 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York’s attorney general said she’s moving forward with an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo after receiving a letter from his office authorizing her to take charge of the probe. The referral letter was sent Monday. It allows Attorney General Letitia James to deputize an outside law firm to conduct the inquiry with full subpoena power. When the investigation is finished, the findings will be disclosed in a public report. Two women who’ve worked for Cuomo accused him of sexual harassment. The governor said some of his behavior with women “may have been insensitive or too personal,” but denied harassing anyone.
March 1, 2021 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress is beginning debate on the biggest overhaul of U.S. elections law in a generation. Legislation from Democrats would touch virtually every aspect of the electoral process – striking down hurdles to voting, curbing partisan gerrymandering and curtailing big money in politics. Republicans see those very measures as a threat that would limit the power of states to conduct elections and ultimately benefit Democrats. The stakes are enormous with both control of Congress and President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda in the balance. But at its core, a more foundational principle of American democracy is at play: access to the ballot.
March 1, 2021 4:16 am
Discussions are reportedly underway to move teachers into Phase 1A, the current phase of Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout. Washington County Representative Tim O’Neal, a member of the bipartisan COVID-19 Task Force, alerted GOP House members to the discussions in an email Sunday. However, multiple Democratic sources said no final decision has been made. The email said the National Guard would be involved in the vaccination process. Sources said the final decision will be made by Gov. Tom Wolf.
March 1, 2021 4:15 am
MT. PLEASANT TWP. — (WPXI)- A man was struck by a vehicle and killed while he was riding an ATV in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, on Saturday. State police said the incident happened on Route 819 at 8:45 p.m. Saturday, between Brinker and Steeles roads — when Timothy Strobel, 39, crashed his ATV. According to investigators, Strobel was trying to pick up the ATV in the roadway when he was hit by a 2014 Kia Soul. Strobel was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle was not hurt, but troopers said a passenger in that car had minor injuries. The investigation is ongoing, and it’s unclear if any charges will be filed.
February 28, 2021 7:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Saturday it will appeal a judge’s ruling that found the federal government’s eviction moratorium was unconstitutional. Prosecutors filed a notice in the case on Saturday evening, saying the government was appealing the matter the to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The appeal comes days after U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevented had overstepped its authority and that the moratorium was unlawful. “Although the COVID-19 pandemic persists, so does the Constitution,” the judge wrote in the decision on Thursday. In a statement, Brian Boynton, the acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s civil division, said prosecutors respectfully disagreed with the judge’s ruling and noted it only applied to parties in the case, not broadly to others. The CDC eviction moratorium was signed in September by President Donald Trump and extended by President Joe Biden until March 31.
February 28, 2021 7:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that was championed by President Joe Biden, the first step in providing another dose of aid to a weary nation as the measure now moves to a tense Senate. “We have no time to waste,” Biden said at the White House after the House passage early Saturday. “We act now — decisively, quickly and boldly — we can finally get ahead of this virus. We can finally get our economy moving again. People in this country have suffered far too much for too long.” The new president’s vision for infusing cash across a struggling economy to individuals, businesses, schools, states and cities battered by COVID-19 passed on a near party-line 219-212 vote. That ships the bill to the Senate, where Democrats seem bent on resuscitating their minimum wage push and fights could erupt over state aid and other issues. Democrats said that mass unemployment and the half-million American lives lost are causes to act despite nearly $4 trillion in aid already spent fighting the fallout from the disease. GOP lawmakers, they said, were out of step with a public that polling finds largely views the bill favorably.
