August 13, 2021 2:27 am
The death of a Washington County man who was running a portable gas-powered generator in his basement is being investigated as a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. The Washington County Coroner says 60-year-old Jeffrey McClay was found unresponsive Thursday in his home on Covered Bridge Road in Prosperity after a power outage Wednesday. As a result of McClay’s death, the coroner’s office is urging users of portable generators to use them safely and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, saying gas-powered generators should never be used inside homes or enclosed spaces.
August 12, 2021 3:48 pm
(AP) – The U.S. Census Bureau has released new population data that will be used to reshape U.S. House seats and state legislative districts for the next decade. The 2020 census data released Thursday shows that much of the fastest population growth occurred in the nation’s largest cities, particularly the suburbs. The data will serve as the building block for redistricting that must be done in most states before the 2022 elections. The official goal is to redraw districts with roughly the same number of people. But many Republicans and Democrats also will be trying to draw districts that make it more likely for their candidates to win.
August 12, 2021 1:37 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The union that represents about 10,000 guards in Pennsylvania’s state prisons is telling Gov. Tom Wolf it plans legal action to stop his effort to force them to get COVID-19 vaccines over the next month. The president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association sent a letter to the Democratic governor Thursday. It comes two days after Wolf ordered the guards and some other state workers to get fully vaccinated by Sept. 7 or face weekly testing. Union president John Eckenrode is telling Wolf his policy announcement is “a slap in the face.” Wolf press secretary Lyndsay Kensinger says the union’s opposition to the initiative “is extremely disappointing.”
August 12, 2021 4:32 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul waited more than a year to disclose that his wife bought stock in a company that makes a COVID-19 treatment. It’s an investment that was made after Congress was briefed on the threat of the virus but before the public was largely aware of its danger. The Republican filed a disclosure Wednesday revealing that Kelley Paul purchased as much as $15,000 in Gilead stock in February 2020. Trades are supposed to be reported within 45 days. A spokeswoman says Kelley Paul used her own earnings to make the investment and said the failure to disclose it was an oversight.
August 12, 2021 4:29 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing – a wide order that applies to more than 800,000 staffers. The statewide vaccine mandate for K-12 educators comes as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns of the highly contagious delta variant. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the new policy Wednesday as he visited a San Francisco Bay Area school. Several large school districts in the state have issued similar requirements in recent days. Teachers unions also have dropped their opposition amid rising case rates.
August 12, 2021 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has cleared the way for a defamation case by Dominion Voting Systems to proceed against Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell, allies of former President Donald Trump who had all falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols handed down a ruling Wednesday that found there was no blanket protection on political speech. He also denied an argument from two of the defendants that the federal court in Washington wasn’t the proper venue for the case. The ruling came just a day after the vote-counting machine maker filed defamation lawsuits against right-wing broadcasters and another Trump ally.
August 12, 2021 4:24 am
LAME DEER, Mont. (AP) – A wildfire is threatening several Montana towns and a California blaze remains the largest in the nation as the Western United States burns. Fire officials say the Richard Spring Fire jumped a road on Wednesday and advanced across the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. The towns of Ashland and Lame Deer are under evacuation orders. In California, the Dixie Fire has burned over 780 square miles and more than 550 homes. It’s 30% contained. The wildfires are among more than 100 burning in over a dozen Western states.
August 12, 2021 4:24 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – People have headed to cooling centers as the Pacific Northwest began sweltering under another major, multi-day heat wave. The hot weather comes just over a month after record-shattering hot weather killed hundreds of the region’s most vulnerable people. The National Weather Service says the temperature could reach as high as 111 in parts of western Oregon on Thursday and Friday before a weekend cooldown. Seattle will be cooler than Portland, with temperatures in the mid-90s.
August 12, 2021 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. is sending an additional 3,000 troops to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of some personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday the Army and Marine forces will enter Afghanistan within the next two days to assist at the Kabul airport with the partial embassy evacuation. State Department spokesman Ned Price said diplomatic work will continue at the embassy. The move suggests a lack of confidence by the Biden administration in the Afghan government’s ability to provide sufficient diplomatic security in Kabul as a series of provincial capitals fall to a Taliban offensive this week.
August 12, 2021 4:21 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says he may reconsider his decision not to mandate masks in the state’s public schools as cases of the coronavirus continue to surge higher. Justice’s statement Wednesday marked an about-face from his previous stance – that he would allow counties to make their own decisions for the upcoming school year. Health officials reported on Wednesday that 334 people had tested positive for the virus – the highest daily number in three months. The number of people who currently have the coronavirus has nearly doubled this month, to more than 4,600. Hospitalizations have increased more than fivefold since July 4. And the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units has hit a six-month high.
