April 28, 2021 4:08 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors kicked off their April Legislative Meeting by filling two vacancies in their police department. Supervisor Chairman Neil Kelly swore in Officers Jordyn Greene and Daniel Meisel. They also introduced their new K-9 officer Ripley. In other township business supervisors approved a fee change for dye tests. The old $50 fee was increased to $150. The Municipal Authority ran a cost analysis and found that they were losing money by charging that rate. Township Manager Andrew Walz stated that the new fee, split evenly between the authority and the township, will now cover the costs of the Municipal Authority administration and testing and the townships administrative costs to deliver results to township home sellers. According to Walz, the fee is now more in line with neighboring municipalities and also added some neighbors charge upwards of $300 for a dye test. The township also entered into an agreement with Sportsmonster to allow that organization to develop and run adult basketball and flag football programs on the township basketball courts and football field during the summer and fall. Election Day will cause May meetings to be shifted to May 25 and June 1.
April 28, 2021 2:18 am
Washington County’s COVID-19 death toll rose by two over the past twenty-four-hours, for a total of 290. COVID infections appear to be leveling off in the region. Washington County reported just 27 new cases, Allegheny County had four new deaths and 242 new COVID cases, and in Greene County, there were just two new infections and no new deaths. Statewide, there were more than thirty-six-hundred new infections and 57 new deaths.
April 27, 2021 2:55 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is extending the REAL ID full enforcement date from October 2021 to May 2023, due to circumstances resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has significantly impacted states’ ability to issue REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, with many driver’s licensing agencies still operating at limited capacity, according to a news release.“Protecting the health, safety, and security of our communities is our top priority,” said Secretary Mayorkas. “As our country continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, extending the REAL ID full enforcement deadline will give states needed time to reopen their driver’s licensing operations and ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card.” Beginning May 3, 2023, every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another TSA-acceptable form of identification at airport security checkpoints for domestic air travel.
April 27, 2021 2:07 pm
LEOLA, Pa. (AP) – A young Amish woman has been laid to rest more than 10 months after she went missing while walking home from a church service in Pennsylvania, after which authorities say she was strangled and stabbed. LNP newspaper reports that 69 horse-drawn buggies and a handful of vans and sport utility vehicles brought more than 100 people together Monday afternoon at the Myers Cemetery burial grounds, not far from where police say 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos was abducted. Her remains were found last week buried along railroad tracks in the small town of Gap. A man arrested weeks after her disappearance has been charged with homicide in her death.
April 27, 2021 1:56 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania policymakers are considering whether some of the rules and regulations that were suspended because of the pandemic can be ended for good. They’re also looking into whether it’s time to reinstate some of the suspended rules on a 139-page government list. They cover everything from training and inspections to the rights and living standards of people in group homes and children in foster care. State House Republicans are asking the Wolf administration for more details about the suspended rules, while Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf wants his agencies to review their statutes and report back to him next week.
April 27, 2021 12:43 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. health officials say fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And unvaccinated people can drop face coverings in some cases, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the updated guidance Tuesday. Previously the CDC had been advising that people should wear masks outdoors if they are within 6 feet of each other. The change comes as more than half of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated.
April 27, 2021 8:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors. Administration officials say the order provides a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of those workers, including nursing assistants and laborers. They say workers will become more productive as a result, so the increase should not be costly to taxpayers. The increase approved under Tuesday’s executive order could be dramatic for workers who earn the current minimum of $10.95 an hour. Those workers would receive a 37% pay hike, though the increase would be rolled out gradually.
April 27, 2021 4:17 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Sentencing for former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death has been pushed back to June 25, according to online court records. Chauvin’s June 16 hearing was reset by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill due to a scheduling conflict. Chauvin was convicted April 20 of all three counts against him: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Under Minnesota statutes he’ll only be sentenced on the most serious one – second-degree murder. While that count carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, experts say he won’t get that much.
April 27, 2021 4:14 am
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) – The FBI has launched a civil rights probe into the death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed by deputies in North Carolina. The announcement on Tuesday came hours after Brown’s family released an independent autopsy showing he was shot five times, including in the back of the head. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also called for a special prosecutor as pressure built on local officials to release body camera footage of last week’s shooting. A local judge scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider formal requests to make the video public.
April 27, 2021 4:12 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Organizers of the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The California secretary of state’s office announced Monday that more than 1.6 million signatures had been verified, about 100,000 more than needed to force a vote on the first-term Democrat. An election is likely in the fall when voters would face two questions: Should Newsom be recalled and who should replace him? The votes on the second question will only be counted if more than half say yes to the first. Last week, Caitlyn Jenner joined the list of candidates running to replace Newsom. In 2003, voters recalled Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
