December 8, 2021 9:58 am
Pfizer says a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appears to offer important protection against the new omicron variant. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech tested how well vaccine-produced antibodies could neutralize omicron in lab dishes. They found significant weakening after the standard two doses. But a booster dose increased antibody levels by 25-fold. The companies said two doses still may protect against severe illness, but they are working to develop an omicon-specific vaccine in case it’s needed. They announced the findings Wednesday in a press release. The data is preliminary and hasn’t undergone scientific review.
December 8, 2021 9:55 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The legality of an order by Pennsylvania’s acting state health secretary requiring masks in K-12 schools and child care facilities is before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The two sides are set to argue their respective positions before the justices Wednesday in Philadelphia. The high court just last week ordered that the directive remain in place while they consider a legal challenge from the state Senate’s highest ranking leader and others. Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam’s mandate took effect in early September. A lower court has ruled Beam lacked authority to require masks, didn’t follow state laws about enacting regulations and acted without a required existing disaster emergency.
December 8, 2021 9:52 am
A Washington County fugitive has been apprehended. The Sheriff’s Office says Darel Barbour was taken into custody Wednesday at a home in Canonsburg. The Washington County Drug Task Force charged Barbour with distribution of crack cocaine back in June of 2020. He was to stand trial on those charges but never appeared for any pre-trial proceedings and a warrant for his arrest was issued. The Fugitive Warrant Unit then developed information on his whereabout and executed a search warrant at that home. Barbour was taken into custody without incident. (PHOTO; Washington County Sheriff’s Office Facebook)
December 8, 2021 9:47 am
No injuries were reported following a crash Wednesday morning in South Strabane Township. Washington County 9-1-1 says it happened around 6:45 a.m along N. Main Street near Patten Ave. A vehicle struck a utility pole. The pole and wires came down and it’s believed a second vehicle then struck the downed pole. N. Main St. was closed but reopened before 8 a.m. No other details have been released.
December 8, 2021 4:22 am
NEW YORK (AP) – More than 40 cases of the omicron variant have been reported in the U.S. so far, with most of them people who were vaccinated and nearly all of them suffering only mild illness, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. In an interview with the Associated Press, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said data is very limited and new cases are coming in daily. The agency is working on a more detailed analysis, she said. But “the disease is mild” in the cases reported so far, she said, with reported symptoms mainly cough, congestion, and fatigue.
December 8, 2021 4:19 am
PARIS (AP) – A suspect in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been arrested in France. A French judicial official said the suspect was being held Tuesday on the basis of a Turkish arrest warrant. He requested not being named in accordance with the French justice system’s customary practices. French radio RTL said the Saudi national, Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi, was arrested at the Roissy airport near Paris as he was trying to board a flight to Riyadh. Al-Otaibi was one of over a dozen Saudi officials sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 over Khashoggi’s killing and dismemberment at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
December 8, 2021 4:18 am
Bob Dole will be honored Friday in a private memorial service with President Joe Biden in attendance and a public service at the World War II Memorial in Washington. Those events will come before the casket of the former presidential candidate and decorated soldier travels to Kansas for events in his hometown and the state capital. Dole’s casket will lie in state Thursday at the U.S. Capitol. The Dole Institute of Politics says Biden will join former presidents, congressional leaders, friends and the Dole family for the private service Friday morning at Washington National Cathedral. A public memorial service is set for Saturday morning in Dole’s hometown of Russell, Kansas, and followed by a private afternoon ceremony at the Kansas Statehouse.
December 8, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has rejected a bid to stop a U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Lawmakers from both parties sought to prevent President Joe Biden’s administration from selling more than $650 million worth of weapons to the country. But the procedural motion from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was rejected on a 30-67 vote. It was just the latest skirmish in Congress over the sales of weapons to the country. Saudi Arabia is a longtime U.S. ally, but anger has been mounting over civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war in Yemen and over the killing of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
December 8, 2021 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional leaders have reached a deal to lift the nation’s debt limit. The agreement announced Tuesday will allow Democrats to increase the nation’s borrowing authority without any votes from Republicans, and likely averts another last-minute rush to avoid a federal default. The House passed legislation overwhelmingly along party lines a few hours later, kicking off the process. Congress approved a $480 billion increase in the nation’s debt limit in October. That will be enough for the Treasury to finance the government’s operations through about Dec. 15. The debt increase will cover deficit funding that has already been authorized in past legislation.
December 7, 2021 2:40 pm
(AP) – A federal judge has blocked President Biden’s administration from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors. It’s the latest in a string of court victories for Republican-led states and others challenging a series of federal vaccine requirements. In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker, in Augusta, Georgia, issued a stay to bar enforcement of the mandate nationwide. (Photo: AP)
