October 21, 2022 4:23 am
BOSTON (AP) – As the harmful effects of extended pandemic school closures become more apparent, some educators and parents have regrets. They’re questioning decisions in cities across the U.S. to remain online long after clear evidence emerged that schools weren’t COVID-19 super-spreaders – and months after life-saving adult vaccines became widely available. Talking about “learning loss” is controversial, but the casualties of Zoom school are real. The scale of the problem and the challenges in addressing it were apparent in Associated Press interviews with nearly 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials, who struggled to agree on a way forward.
October 21, 2022 4:21 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter’s workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company. That’s according to a report by The Washington Post. The report says Musk told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he planned to cut nearly 75% of San Francisco-based Twitter’s employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew. Twitter and a representative for Musk attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Already, experts, nonprofits and even Twitter’s own staff have warned that pulling back investments on content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users.
October 21, 2022 4:20 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit Thursday after a tumultuous and historically brief term in which her economic policies roiled financial markets and a rebellion in her political party obliterated her authority. Truss became the third Conservative prime minister to be toppled in as many years, extending the instability that has shaken Britain since it broke off from the European Union and leaving its leadership in limbo as the country faces a cost-of-living crisis and looming recession. Financial markets were soothed, but bitterly divided Conservative Party lawmakers have just a few days to agree on a successor – or face yet another leadership contest.
October 21, 2022 4:19 am
WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Fighting around Ukraine’s nuclear power installations and Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons have reawakened nuclear fears in Europe. This is especially felt in countries like Poland and Romania, which border Ukraine and would be particularly vulnerable in case of a radiological disaster. Poland recently drew up a plan to distribute tablets offering some protection from radiation exposure, and is carrying out an inventory of the shelters it has to protect its civilian population. The period of peace that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union lulled governments into neglecting their civil protection plans. Some old shelters are today little more than museums that offer no real protection, relics of an earlier era of nuclear fears.
October 21, 2022 4:18 am
UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – The parking lot at the Union Township building is empty, and concerns are mounting in the small community. Four of five Union Township supervisors recently resigned, in addition to the township’s certified public accountant and solicitor. Right now, only one supervisor is left to serve the township. It is unclear why leadership has abandoned their positions. In his resignation letter, former supervisor Michael Barna painted an ugly picture of what may have unfolded at township meetings and on social media. He wrote, “I am uncomfortable and saddened by much of what has been brought to light. I have witnessed public harassing and intimidating behavior.” He went on to say, “There have been sensitive materials shared on social media. Materials that were shared on social media were posted with harmful intent. There have been heinous comments and false accusations made in meetings, and on social media, that go against my personal beliefs and morals.” At this point, it’s unclear exactly what Barna was referring to.
October 21, 2022 2:51 am
Public comment during Thursday’s Washington County Commissioners meeting brought two requests that the election committee deal with undated mail-in ballots as prescribed by the United States Supreme Court. Their decision states that undated mail-in ballots should not be counted. Pennsylvania however is still not recommending that procedure. Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey-Vaughn explained to the audience that mail in ballots without dates will be segregated from the rest of the ballots that have been deemed appropriate. Keeping undated ballots segregated is the minimum request in a lawsuit currently in front of the Supreme Court.
October 20, 2022 4:54 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – A jury sided with Kevin Spacey, finding he didn’t sexually abuse fellow actor Anthony Rapp in the 1980s. This brings to a conclusion a trial that was an outgrowth of the (hash)MeToo movement. The claims by Rapp and others brought an abrupt halt to two-time Academy Award winner Spacey’s career. The verdict Thursday came after jurors deliberated for just over an hour. Rapp had claimed he was psychologically damaged after Spacey made a sexual advance on him in 1986. Spacey testified that the encounter never happened, and said he was sure of it.
October 20, 2022 8:43 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned – bowing to the inevitable after a tumultuous six-week term in which her policies triggered turmoil in financial markets and a rebellion in her party obliterated her authority. Just a day earlier Truss had vowed to stay in power, saying she was “a fighter and not a quitter.” But Truss left Thursday after she was forced to abandon many of her economic policies and lost control of Conservative Party discipline. Her departure leaves a divided party seeking a leader who can unify its warring factions.
October 20, 2022 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump signed legal documents challenging the results of the 2020 election that included voter fraud claims he knew to be false, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge David Carter in an 18-page opinion ordered the release of those emails between Trump and attorney John Eastman (pictured) to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He said those communications cannot be withheld because they include evidence of potential crimes. “The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public,” Carter wrote. The judge specifically cited claims from Trump’s attorneys that Fulton County in Georgia had improperly counted more than 10,000 votes of dead people, felons and unregistered voters. Those false allegations were part of a filing that Trump’s legal team made in Georgia state court on Dec. 4, 2021.
October 20, 2022 4:16 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled down Wednesday on his faltering invasion of Ukraine with a declaration of martial law in four illegally annexed regions and preparations within Russia for draconian new restrictions and crackdowns. Putin’s drastic efforts to tighten his grip on Ukrainians and Russians follow a series of embarrassing setbacks: stinging battlefield defeats, sabotage and troubles with his troop mobilization. The martial law order belies the Kremlin’s attempts to portray life in the annexed regions as returning to normal. The reality is that a military administration has replaced civilian leaders in the southern city of Kherson and a mass evacuation from the city is underway as a Ukrainian counteroffensive grinds on.
