March 25, 2021 1:28 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Treasury Department says it has sent out another 37 million economic impact payments over the past week, bringing the total disbursed in the past two weeks to $325 billion. The second batch of payments sent out this week followed an initial 90 million payments made in the week after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion COVID relief measure on March 11. In its announcement Wednesday, Treasury said the plan was to keep rolling out payments in batches over the coming weeks. Like the first round of payments, this latest group included direct deposits as well as paper checks and debit cards mailed to households.
March 25, 2021 12:55 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – One of the most active natural gas exploration firms in Pennsylvania is agreeing to pay $1.9 million after it disclosed in 2014 that its construction work had damaged waterways and wetlands. Officials from Chesapeake Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City and federal and state environmental protection agencies signed a consent decree in December before it was filed in federal court in Williamsport on Wednesday. The consent decree must go through a 30-day public comment period and requires court approval to take effect. Chesapeake in 2014 disclosed possible violations in Beaver, Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties, including damming streams and filling in wetlands. Chesapeake is agreeing to clean up the sites, or offset the damage by improving sites elsewhere.
March 25, 2021 10:58 am
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) – Three days after he was led away in handcuffs from a Boulder supermarket where 10 people were fatally shot, the suspect appeared in court for the first time and his defense lawyer asked for a mental health assessment “to address his mental illness.” Kathryn Herold, the lawyer for suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, provided no other details Thursday about what he might suffer from. During the brief hearing, Alissa appeared in court wearing a mask. He didn’t speak other than to say yes to a question from the judge and did not enter a plea to the charges. Alissa, 21 remains held without bail on 10 charges of first-degree murder.
March 25, 2021 8:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) -The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000, the fewest since the pandemic erupted a year ago and a sign the economy is improving. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell from 781,000 the week before. It is the first time that weekly applications for jobless aid have fallen below 700,000 since mid-March of 2020. Before the pandemic tore through the economy, applications had never topped that level.
March 25, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border. She also is tasked with working with Central American nations to address root causes of the problem. Biden, in delegating the matter to Harris, is seeking to replicate a dynamic that played out when he served as President Barack Obama’s vice president. Obama turned to Biden early in his first term to lead the White House effort to draw down U.S. troops in the intractable war in Iraq. With the move, Biden hopes to show he’s taking the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border seriously.
March 25, 2021 4:18 am
AstraZeneca insisted Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is strongly effective even after counting additional illnesses in its disputed U.S. study, the latest in an extraordinary public rift with American officials. In a late-night press release, AstraZeneca said it had recalculated data from that study and concluded the vaccine is 76% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, instead of the 79% it had claimed earlier in the week. Just a day earlier, an independent panel that oversees the study had accused AstraZeneca of cherry-picking data to tout the protection offered by its vaccine. The panel, in a harsh letter to the company and to U.S. health leaders, said the company had left out some COVID-19 cases that occurred in the study, a move that could erode trust in the science.
March 25, 2021 4:17 am
ISMAILIA, Egypt (AP) – At least 150 vessels are waiting to use the Suez Canal after a skyscraper-sized cargo ship wedged across the vital waterway. That’s according to canal service provider Leth Agencies. It says the backup Thursday affected ships both needing to travel into the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. It remains unclear when the obstruction will be cleared. That’s further imperiled global shipping, which relies on the canal.
March 25, 2021 4:12 am
A federal indictment says the University of Pittsburgh’s former emergency management director stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The indictment announced Wednesday says Christopher Casamento stole N95 respirators, surgical masks and particulate respirator masks and sold them on his eBay vendor page at “significant price mark ups,” making nearly $19,000 from the sales. Pitt says Casamento admitted misappropriating the masks and was fired last July. A message was left at his number seeking comment.
March 25, 2021 4:07 am
Washington County history fans will have a new venue to study colonial history in Washington. The Bradford House Historical Association along with the Washington County Tourism and Promotion Agency held a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the Whiskey Rebellion Education and Visitors Center. The museum is across the street from the Bradford House and is operated in cooperation with the Bradford House. Guests are treated to a self guided tour of events that caused and occurred during the Whiskey Rebellion from 1791-1794. Visitors will learn of the first internal excise tax, the first time federal troops were used to calm riots in the young nation and how the first presidential pardons were granted. Exhibits include pictures and an 18th century still and an 18th century tavern bar. Tracie Liberatore, Executive Director of the Bradford House Historical Society is pleased with the outcome of the venue and is excited to have school students as well as adults receive an accurate and detailed account of the importance of the Whiskey Rebellion and how it shaped a young nation. The Whiskey Rebellion Education and Visitors Center is open Wednesday through Saturday 10-4. Private tours are also available. The address of the museum is 184 S. Main St. Washington. There is no admission charge but donations are accepted.
March 25, 2021 2:15 am
PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden will be in Pittsburgh next week. During the visit, Biden will talk about “his economic vision for the future and the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to Build Back Better for the American people.” The visit will be on Wednesday, March 31 and was made public through a White House travel advisory but no other details were released. It will mark Biden’s first visit to western Pennsylvania since he won the presidential election in November.
