April 5, 2021 4:25 am
The starry cast of Aaron Sorkin’s 1960s courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7” took the top prize Sunday at a virtual, pre-taped Screen Actors Guild Awards that saw Netflix snag Hollywood actors’ highest honor for the first time. The win for “Trial of the Chicago 7” marked the first time a film from any streaming service won the guild’s ensemble award. Other winners included Chadwick Boseman for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Yuh-Jung Youn for “Minari” and Daniel Kaluuya for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” The SAG Awards are a closely watched Oscar harbinger. Actors make up the largest branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures, and SAG winners often line up with Oscar ones.
April 5, 2021 4:22 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A mixed martial arts fighter had his finger severed during a match in Philadelphia, but doctors were eventually able to reattach it. Khetag Pliev was injured Thursday night during the second round of his fight, which was stopped when the referee noticed Pliev was missing his left ring finger. Event promoter Rob Haydak told ESPN that officials began searching inside the cage where the match was held, and an announcement was made to the crowd, asking them to look for it also. After several minutes, the finger was ultimately discovered inside Pliev’s glove. Pliev’s opponent was declared the winner by TKO, but Pliev says he will appeal that ruling.
April 5, 2021 4:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Vaccine passports being developed to verify COVID-19 immunization status have become the latest flash point in America’s perpetual political wars. Supporters say the passports would allow inoculated people to more freely travel, shop and dine. But Republicans portray them as a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices. Vaccine passports currently exist in only one state – a limited government partnership in New York with a private company. But that hasn’t stopped GOP lawmakers in a handful of states from rushing out legislative proposals to ban their use as a tool to restrict what people may do.
April 5, 2021 4:19 am
SALEM TWP. — (WPXI)- Two people died from a massive house fire in Westmoreland County overnight. According to the county coroner’s office, the blaze broke out at the home in the 1600 block of Route 819 in Salem Township before 1 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters battled the flames for several hours. The home became fully engulfed — and the roof and side of the structure collapsed. Crews found the victims — identified as David Staats, 57, and Helena Staats, 84 — inside the house. The coroner pronounced them dead at the scene. It’s unclear how the fire started, and the state fire marshal is investigating.
April 4, 2021 7:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Details from more than 500 million Facebook users have been found available on a website for hackers. The information appears to be several years old, but it is another example of the vast amount of information collected by Facebook and other social media sites, and the limits to how secure that information is. The availability of the data set was first reported by Business Insider. According to that publication, it has information from 106 countries including phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, and email addresses. Facebook has been grappling with data security issues for years. In 2018, the social media giant disabled a feature that allowed users to search for one another via phone number following revelations that the political firm Cambridge Analytica had accessed information on up to 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge or consent.
April 4, 2021 7:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol, killing one of them before he was shot to death by police, had been suffering from delusions, paranoia and suicidal thoughts, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday. Investigators believe it was an isolated incident from a disturbed young man. Video of the Friday afternoon attack shows the driver emerging from the crashed car with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters. Police shot the suspect, 25-year-old Noah Green, who died at a hospital. Investigators are increasingly focused on Green’s mental health as they work to identify any motive for the attack, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity. The official said investigators had talked to Green’s family, who spoke of his increasingly delusional thoughts. In online posts since removed, Green described being under government thought control and said he was being watched. He described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its longtime leader, Louis Farrakhan, and spoke of going through a difficult time when he leaned on his faith. Some of the messages were captured by the group SITE, which tracks online activity.
April 4, 2021 7:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Vaccine passports being developed to verify COVID-19 immunization status and allow inoculated people to more freely travel, shop and dine have become the latest flash point in America’s perpetual political wars, with Republicans portraying them as a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices. They currently exist in only one state — a limited government partnership in New York with a private company — but that hasn’t stopped GOP lawmakers in a handful of states from rushing out legislative proposals to ban their use. The argument over whether passports are a sensible response to the pandemic or governmental overreach echoes the bitter disputes over the past year about masks, shutdown orders and even the vaccines themselves. Vaccine passports are typically an app with a code that verifies whether someone has been vaccinated or recently tested negative for COVID-19. They are in use in Israel and under development in parts of Europe, seen as a way to safely help rebuild the pandemic- devastated travel industry. They are intended to allow businesses to more safely open up as the vaccine drive gains momentum, and they mirror measures already in place for schools and overseas travel that require proof of immunization against various diseases.
April 4, 2021 6:59 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Christianity’s most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with faithful sitting far apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah” through face coverings on a second Easter Sunday conditioned by pandemic precautions. From Protestant churches in South Korea to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, worshippers followed national or local regulations aimed at preventing the transmission of the coronavirus. At a hospital in the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first erupted in the West in February 2020, a hospital gave a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolizing peace to each person who lined up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Many of the ones who came were in their 80s and accompanied by adult children. In Jerusalem, air travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter celebrations. Inside St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis sprinkled incense near an icon of Jesus and said, “May the joy of Easter extend to the whole world.” The 200 or so faithful who were allowed to attend looked lost in the cavernous cathedral. Normally, thousands would attend the popular service and a crowd would gather outside in St. Peter’s Square, with more than 100,000 sometimes assembling to receive the pope’s special Easter blessing after Mass.
April 4, 2021 6:55 am
The Center for Disease Control announced Saturday that the state ranks 12th among all 50 states for first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered by percentage of population and 5th among all 50 states for total doses administered. According to the news release, Pennsylvania has administered first doses of vaccine to 33.5% of its eligible population, with 3,694,176 people having received at least their first dose. The release also states that 1,960,809 people are fully vaccinated, with a seven-day moving average of close to 89,000 people per day receiving vaccinations. More than 5.5 million vaccinations have been administered, the release states.
April 4, 2021 4:25 am
HEMPFIELD, Pa. – One individual has died following a head-on collision in Hempfield Township Friday night. Westmoreland County 911 confirmed the incident took place just after 7:00 p.m. that evening on State Route 136 between Fallow Deer Lane and Harry Long Road. According to officials, one patient was pronounced dead on scene, while the other was airlifted to Allegheny General Hospital. Route 136 in Hempfield was closed for a time while authorities cleared the scene. There is no word on the reason for the accident, status of the hospitalized patient or the identities of anyone involved.
