March 14, 2022 1:13 pm
(WPXI) – The CEO of Pfizer says a fourth dose of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine will be needed to strengthen the immune system to be able to fight off other variants of the virus that will inevitably come in the months and years ahead. “Many variants are coming, and Omicron was the first one that was able to evade — in a skillful way — the immune protection that we’re giving,” Albert Bourla told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “The protection we are getting from the third (dose) it is good enough — actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths,” Bourla said. Bourla appeared on the show two days after the second anniversary of the declaration of the pandemic that has killed more than 6 million people worldwide. According to Bourla, a fourth dose is needed because protection against the disease after three doses is “not that good against infections” and “doesn’t last very long” when new variants such as omicron emerge. (Photo: AP)
March 14, 2022 4:23 am
NEW YORK (AP) – William Hurt, the Oscar-winning actor of “Broadcast News,” “Body Heat” and “The Big Chill,” has died. He was 71. Hurt’s son said in a statement that Hurt died Sunday of natural causes. Deadline first reported Hurt’s death. In a long-running career, Hurt was four times nominated for an Academy Award, winning for 1985’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Hurt’s laconic charisma and self-assured subtlety as an actor made him one of the 1980s foremost leading men. Later, he would transition into a character actor in movies such as “A History of Violence,” while also appearing in several Marvel films.
March 14, 2022 4:18 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – A judge in Florida has agreed to make permanent an order that prohibits the release of photos, video or other records related to the investigation into the death of comedian Bob Saget. Circuit Judge Vincent Chiu said Monday during a court hearing in Orlando that he would issue a permanent injunction requested by Saget’s widow and his three daughters. The family members had filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the release of any records from the local medical examiner’s office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office involving the investigation into Saget’s death. The medical examiner says the 65-year-old comedian died from an accidental blow to the head, likely from a fall backward. (Photo: ABC News)
March 14, 2022 4:16 am
DOVER, Del. (AP) – A trial to determine whether the Boy Scouts of America’s proposed reorganization plan should be approved is beginning more than two years after it sought bankruptcy protection amid an onslaught of child sex abuse allegations. The trial starts Monday and is expected to last several weeks as attorneys and witnesses battle over a host of complex issues. They include insurance rights, liability releases and the value of some 80,000 child sex abuse claims. The reorganization plan includes contributions from the BSA, its roughly 250 local councils, insurance companies and others into a victims compensation fund of more than $2.6 billion. In return for the contributions, the parties would be released from any further liability for Scouting-related abuse claims.
March 14, 2022 4:15 am
MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) – A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russia bombed the maternity hospital where she was meant to give birth. Images shot by Associated Press journalists of the woman being rushed to an ambulance on a stretcher had circled the world. They epitomized the horror of an attack on humanity’s most innocent. The woman was rushed to another hospital, where doctors labored to keep her alive. But surgeon Timur Marin found the woman’s pelvis crushed and hip detached. Medics delivered the baby via cesarean section, but it showed no signs of life, the surgeon said. They then tried to save the mother but she also died.
March 14, 2022 4:14 am
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian and Russian officials have held a new round of talks as Moscow’s troops press their assault on Kyiv and other cities. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted a photo of the two sides meeting by video link on Monday but said the talks had ended for the day and would resume Tuesday. Podolyak said on Twitter earlier that the negotiators would discuss “peace, ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops & security guarantees.” Previous rounds were held in person on the border with Belarus, most recently a week ago, and failed to produce a breakthrough.
March 14, 2022 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – There is no word as to whether a Pennsylvania state senator who is running for governor showed up for a deposition in front of the congressional committee looking into the Jan. 6 insurrection, as it had requested when it issued a subpoena last month. Sen. Doug Mastriano did not respond to requests for comment Friday. A spokesperson for the Jan. 6 select committee declined comment. Mastriano was asked by the committee to appear for a deposition Thursday. Mastriano was in regular communication with Trump as the then-president sought to reverse his 2020 election loss, and was outside the U.S. Capitol the afternoon of the Jan. 6 attack.
March 14, 2022 4:09 am
ALVERTON, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a man operating a snow blower was struck and killed by a pickup truck in western Pennsylvania over the weekend. The Westmoreland County coroner’s office said the pickup failed to negotiate a left curve on an East Huntingdon Township road at about 11:15 a.m. Saturday. Officials said the truck went to the west side of the street and struck 49-year-old Brian Hyde, who was operating a snow blower. He was taken to the Excela Frick emergency department, where he was pronounced dead. The coroner’s office said an autopsy is planned and a ruling on the cause and manner of death is pending.
March 14, 2022 4:08 am
NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. (AP) – State police said 10 people were injured in a crash involving 73 vehicles on a central Pennsylvania highway during a late winter storm over the weekend, but no life-threatening injuries were reported. Trooper Megan Ammerman said the crash was reported shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday on PA 581 in Cumberland County. Ammerman said 10 people sustained injuries ranging from minor to moderate and were transported to hospitals for evaluation and treatment. On-scene investigators determined that about 43 of the 73 vehicle were damaged, police said. The highway was closed for about four hours during the investigation. WHTM-TV said drivers and other witnesses reported whiteout conditions prior to the crash.
March 14, 2022 3:44 am
The major Route 18 rehabilitation project in the City of Washington is set to restart this week. According to PennDOT, single-lane restrictions will occur along Jefferson Avenue beginning Monday, March 14th (weather permitting.) Flaggers working the lane restrictions will be in place between Oakland Avenue and Route 844/Henderson Avenue between 8:00 a.m and 4:00 p.m. weekdays through late April. Crews will perform drainage work prior to the full depth reconstruction of Route 18 in the area. Motorists are urged to use caution in all work zones.
