July 31, 2021 2:09 am
Washington County Commissioners approved an ordinance that will place a referendum question on the November 2 election ballot. By a 2-1 vote the referendum question will ask Washington County voters if a Government Study Commission should be formed to study the current form of county government and make recommendations to the commissioners as to what changes should be made to government or if no changes to county government should be made. Nearly 100 people turned out to a special meeting to consider the question. Two hours of public comment from emails and live speeches started the meeting before commissioners took their vote. The vast majority of public comment was against the formation of a Home Rule system of government, even though that was not what the voting issue was about. Some felt that the formation of the committee was rushed and politically motivated. Commissioners Diana Irey-Vaughn and Larry Maggi voted in favor of the formation of the Commission. Commissioner Nick Sherman voted against it stating that he would not vote for a commission that may put forward a suggestion that he does not agree with, specifically the formation of a home rule government.
July 30, 2021 4:49 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – COVID-19 vaccinations and masks will be required for all Broadway audience members when theaters reopen in the coming weeks. The Broadway League announced Friday that audience members will have to wear face coverings and show proof they’re fully vaccinated when they enter the theaters. There’ll be exceptions to the vaccine rule for children under 12 and for people with a medical condition or religious belief that prevents vaccination. Those individuals will need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Vaccinations will also be required for performers, crew members and theater employees.
July 30, 2021 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records. During the Trump administration, then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he wouldn’t turn over the tax returns because he concluded they were being sought by Democrats who control the House of Representatives for partisan reasons. The committee sued for the records under a federal law that says the Internal Revenue Service “shall furnish” the returns of any taxpayer to a handful of top lawmakers. The committee said it needed Trump’s taxes for an investigation into whether he complied with tax law.
July 30, 2021 4:19 am
BOSTON (AP) – The Biden administration will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday. The end of the moratorium comes as advocates and some lawmakers call for it to be extended in the face of rising coronavirus cases and the sluggish pace of distributing rental assistance. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in June this would be the last time the moratorium would be extended when she set the expiration for July 31. As of July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
July 30, 2021 4:18 am
TOKYO (AP) – Japan is set to expand the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo to neighboring areas and the western city of Osaka as infections surge to new highs while the capital hosts the Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to announce later Friday the emergency will be expanded until Aug. 31. The measures now in place in Tokyo and Okinawa would include Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, as well as Osaka. Tokyo has reported three daily records in a row. COVID-19 cases have doubled since last week. The emergency measures mainly involve shorter hours and an alcohol ban at eateries and bars, but they are having less impact amid fatigue over restrictions and the increasing spread of the delta variant.
July 30, 2021 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration has announced sweeping new pandemic rules for federal workers and some contractors. It is requiring that any federal civilian worker who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be subject to universal masking, weekly testing, physical distancing from other employees and restrictions on official travel. The guidelines are aimed at boosting vaccination rates among the millions of Americans who draw federal paychecks and to set an example for private employers around the country. áBiden said, “This is an American tragedy. People are dying who don’t have to die.”
July 30, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – More than 200 people have arrived in the United States on the first evacuation flight for Afghans who worked alongside Americans in Afghanistan. The commercial airliner landed early Friday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. It carried Afghan interpreters and their family members. The new arrivals include scores of children and babies in arms. Dubbed Operation Allies Refuge, the flights are intended to bring to the U.S. Afghans who are farthest along in their visa process. The interpreters fear reprisals from Afghanistan’s Taliban as the last U.S. troops leave.
July 30, 2021 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A rural Pennsylvania county is formally declining to participate in an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election sought by backers of former President Donald Trump, saying it would need new voting machines paid for and delivered within three weeks. The three commissioners in Republican-controlled Tioga County had said two weeks ago that they wouldn’t allow third-party access to the county’s voting machines for fear of seeing them decertified by the state just weeks before preparations must begin for November’s election. In a Thursday letter, the commissioners said they were declining the request “at this time” without new voting machines paid for and delivered by Aug. 20.
July 30, 2021 4:09 am
(AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania’s coronavirus task force are asking state lawmakers to urge their constituents to get vaccinated, noting the rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant. Wolf and the task force, which includes Democratic and Republican appointees from the House and Senate, asked members of the General Assembly to use every tool at their disposal, starting now, to promote the COVID-19 vaccines. The letter says “we are at a pivotal moment in this pandemic.” New COVID-19 cases have more than tripled over the past two weeks.
July 29, 2021 12:34 pm
The folks in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania were plenty happy it rained on Thursday – because they were celebrating Rain Day. The official time was 12:09 p.m. Thursday, July 29th, is Rain Day, a day that has a history of rain. In fact, with Thursday’s rain – it has now rained 116 times out of the past 148 years in Waynesburg. Last year’s festival was held virtually because of the COVID pandemic, but this year, Waynesburg Mayor Greg Leathers says it went on – but with a twist. Leathers say the festivities were held in two of the borough’s parks, rather than in the downtown area. Rain Day historically began with a bet between two guys in a downtown drugstore, and that tradition evolved into betting a hat and has carried on with various celebrities taking the bet over the years. This year, Leathers say the bet is with Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning music artist Josh Reedy, who plays guitar for country music singer Thomas Rhett.
