July 23, 2021 4:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. health officials say they now have evidence that an untreatable “superbug” fungus has spread in two hospitals and a nursing home. Outbreaks of the Candida auris fungus were reported in a Washington, D.C, nursing home and at two Dallas-area hospitals. A handful of the patients had invasive fungal infections that were impervious to all three major classes of medications. Health officials have sounded alarms for years about the superbug after seeing infections in which commonly used drugs had little effect. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the cases Thursday.
July 23, 2021 4:07 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas is beginning to arrest migrants on trespassing charges along the U.S.-Mexico border. Authorities said Thursday that at least 10 people have been jailed so far and more are expected in the coming weeks. The arrests are part of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s actions that he says are needed to slow the number of border crossings. He has also said he would continue building former President Donald Trump’s border wall and called on other governors to deploy law enforcement to the southern border. Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez says all of those arrested so far have been single adult men. He says it is his understanding that state troopers would not be arresting anyone arriving as part of a family unit.
July 23, 2021 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Calling the probe “deadly serious,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection “will do the job it set out to do” whether Republicans participate or not. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republicans won’t participate after Pelosi rejected two of the Republicans he chose to sit on the panel. Pelosi made clear on Thursday that she won’t change her mind. It is unclear whether Pelosi will try and appoint other members to the panel, as she has the authority to do under committee rules. She left open the possibility that she would do that.
July 23, 2021 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican lawmakers are under increasing pressure to persuade vaccine skeptics to roll up their sleeves and take the shots as a new, more contagious COVID-19 variant sends caseloads soaring. But it may be too late to change the minds of many who are refusing. After months of ignoring – and, in some cases, stoking – misinformation about the virus, more Republicans have been imploring their constituents to lay lingering doubts aside. The outreach comes as COVID-19 cases have nearly tripled in the U.S. over the last two weeks, driven by the explosion of the new delta variant, especially in pockets of the country where vaccination rates are low.
July 23, 2021 4:04 am
BLY, Ore. (AP) – Crews are making progress against the nation’s largest wildfire in Oregon even as fires in neighboring California continue to threaten homes. The Bootleg Fire, which has destroyed an area half the size of Rhode Island, is 40% surrounded after burning some 70 homes. Fire officials say they’ve surrounded much of the bottom half. An upper eastern edge is still advancing toward thousands of homes but authorities say the pace is slower than last week, when the fire exploded. In California, blowing embers from the Tamarack Fire south of Lake Tahoe ignited a fast-moving spot fire, prompting a new evacuation near Topaz Lake on the California-Nevada line.
July 23, 2021 4:02 am
LOGANVILLE, Pa. (AP) – With talks on wider election-related legislation at a standstill, Gov. Tom Wolf says his position on expanding Pennsylvania’s voter identification requirements hasn’t changed, and that he’s against anything that would “suppress the vote.” When Wolf vetoed a Republican-penned election bill on June 30, he cited a list of reasons, including imposing additional voter ID restrictions. Hours later, at a news conference, he said, “we can have that conversation” about whether Pennsylvania’s existing voter ID requirements are enough. On Thursday, he said, “I’m willing to have a conversation about voting reform. … But if you’re trying to suppress the vote, that’s just a nonstarter for me.”
July 23, 2021 3:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Justice Department says it has decided not to open an investigation into whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for COVID-19 in a hospital. Thursday’s letter comes 11 months after the agency told the governors of Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and New York that it wanted information to determine whether orders there may have resulted in the deaths of nursing home residents. Michigan received an identical letter Thursday. The orders by the four governors were criticized for potentially fueling the spread of the virus. In Pennsylvania, it is far from clear that the policy led to an outbreak or death.
July 22, 2021 1:42 pm
(WPXI) – A car hit four bicyclists, killing one, early Thursday morning on Route 22 in Murrysville, officials said. The crash happened about 4 a.m. on Route 22 eastbound at Brick Hill Road. Eastbound lanes of Route 22 were closed until just before 7:30 a.m. Police said the bicyclists were part of a church group riding from Ohio to Altoona. The bicyclist who was killed, Marcus Coblentz, 25, of Sugarcreek, Ohio, died at the scene, officials said. The other three bicyclists were taken to a hospital and are expected to be OK, according to officials. Police said the 16-year-old driver of the car was not hurt and stayed at the scene to talk with investigators. It is not suspected that drugs or alcohol were involved. A 17-year-old was also in the car and was not hurt.
July 22, 2021 8:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week from the lowest point of the pandemic, even as the job market appears to be rebounding on the strength of a reopened economy. The Labor Department says jobless claims increased to 419,000 from 368,000 the previous week. The weekly number of first-time applications for benefits, which generally tracks layoffs, has fallen steadily since topping 900,000 in early January. Americans are shopping, traveling and eating out more as the pandemic has waned, boosting the economy and forcing businesses to scramble for more workers. Complaints by companies that they can’t find enough workers have led 22 states to prematurely end a $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit, which comes on top of state jobless aid.
July 22, 2021 4:21 am
UNDATED (AP) – The White House says there’s been no decision to change the COVID-19 guidance on wearing face masks. Press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Thursday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and not the White House, makes the decisions about public health. Psaki says any change in the guidance would come from CDC. The current guidance is that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear face masks while those who are unvaccinated should continue to wear them. White House and public health officials have been discussing whether to update the mask guidance because of the surge in COVID-19 infections blamed on the highly contagious delta variant.
