June 4, 2021 1:57 pm
CANTON, Ohio (AP) – The head football coach at an Ohio high school and six other coaches there have been ousted after a football player said he was forced him to eat pork in violation of his religious beliefs for missing a voluntary workout. The Canton City Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to not renew the coaching contracts of Canton McKinley head football coach Marcus Wattley, two of his assistants and an assistant baseball coach. With the same vote, the board also deemed three other assistant football coaches as ineligible for future coaching positions. An attorney retained by Wattley says details of the events were exaggerated and parts are false.
June 4, 2021 8:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May, an improvement from April’s sluggish gain but still evidence that many companies are struggling to find enough workers as the economy rapidly recovers from the pandemic recession. Last month’s job gain was above April’s revised total of 278,000. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%. The speed of the rebound from the pandemic recession has caught employers off guard and touched off a scramble to hire. The reopening of the economy, fueled by substantial federal aid and rising vaccinations, has released pent-up demand among consumers to eat out, travel, shop, attend public events and visit with friends and relatives.
June 4, 2021 4:22 am
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) – Fisher-Price says it is recalling a model of its baby soothers after the deaths of four infants who were placed on their backs unrestrained in the devices and later found on their stomachs. In a joint statement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Fisher-Price said Friday it is recalling its 4-in-1 Rock ‘n Glide Soothers, which are designed to mimic the motion of a baby being rocked in someone’s arms. The fatalities between April 2019 and February 2020 were a 4-month old from Missouri, a 2-month old from Nevada, a 2-month old from Michigan and an 11-week old from Colorado, according to the statement.
June 4, 2021 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republicans are panning President Joe Biden’s latest infrastructure proposal. Republicans view his proposed 15% corporate minimum tax as unnecessary, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. They are preparing to bring their own revised offer Friday. Biden and lead GOP negotiator Sen. Shelley Moore Capito spoke again Friday as negotiations grind on. The White House has downplayed what had been a deadline next week to see if there can be for progress toward a deal. Meanwhile, Democrats are taking steps to pass a bill on their own, if talks with Republicans fall apart.
June 4, 2021 4:16 am
(AP) – FDA approves obesity drug that helped people cut weight 15% Regulators say a new version of a popular diabetes medicine can be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Wegovy. It’s a higher-dose version of a diabetes drug from the Danish company Novo Nordisk. In company-funded studies, participants taking Wegovy had average weight loss of 15%. Participants lost weight steadily for 16 months before plateauing. In a comparison group getting dummy shots, the average weight loss was about 2.5%. More than 100 million adults in the U.S. are obese. Like other weight-loss drugs, it’s supposed to be used along with exercise and a healthy diet.
June 4, 2021 4:11 am
(AP) – The head of an American Legion post in Ohio has stepped down after organizers of a Memorial Day ceremony silenced a speech about freed Black slaves honoring soldiers after the Civil War. American Legion leaders in Ohio also suspended the post’s charter on Friday and are taking steps to close it. The moves come in the wake of intense criticism over the decision to censor retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter at the ceremony in Hudson, Ohio. Kemter said he wanted to share the history of how Memorial Day originated. But organizers said that wasn’t relevant to honoring the city’s veterans.
June 4, 2021 3:33 am
A West Virginia man who was living in Canton Township pleaded guilty to one of several felony charges in front of Judge Valarie Costanzo on Thursday. Charles Franklin Norris, 36 pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. Norris was sentenced to 6-23 months in jail. However, the District Attorney agreed to the Public Defender’s request that Norris serve the minimum six months of the sentence and that would be served on electronic home monitoring with work release. Norris avoided several felony charges for prohibited possession of firearms and receiving stolen property. Costanzo granted the work release petition and Norris will report for his sentence on June 17.
June 3, 2021 8:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has fallen for a fifth straight week to a new pandemic low, the latest evidence that the U.S. job market is regaining its health as the economy further reopens. The Labor Department says jobless claims dropped to 385,000 last week, down 20,000 from the week before. The decline in applications reflects a swift rebound in economic growth and the job market’s steady recovery from the coronavirus recession. More Americans are venturing out to shop, travel, dine out and congregate at entertainment venues. All that renewed spending has led companies to seek new workers.
June 3, 2021 4:16 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Republican George P. Bush says he’s running next year for attorney general of Texas. The 45-year-old son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made the announcement Wednesday in Austin. The decision sets up a potentially bruising GOP primary against sitting Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has served two terms but is shadowed by securities fraud charges and an FBI investigation. Bush is currently Texas’ land commissioner and is the last member of the Bush dynasty that is still in public office.
June 3, 2021 4:14 am
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) – Celebrity attorney F. Lee Bailey has died. He was 87. The death was confirmed Thursday by Peter Horstmann, who worked with Bailey as an associate in the same law office for seven years. In a career that spanned decades, Bailey defended O.J. Simpson, Patricia Hearst and the alleged Boston Strangler. Bailey had been called arrogant, egocentric and contemptuous of authority. But he also was acknowledged as bold, brilliant, meticulous and tireless in the defense of his clients. Simpson once called Bailey the most valuable member of the legal team that got him acquitted of killing his wife and her friend in 1995. Bailey was disbarred in Florida and Massachusetts in the early 2000s for mishandling $6 million worth of stock for a client. But won the right to practice law in Maine in 2013.
