March 22, 2021 8:47 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – In a private Facebook group called the Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom, many current and retired officers spent the year criticizing chiefs that took a knee or officers who marched with Black Lives Matter protesters, who they called “terrorists,” “racist” or “thugs.” Posts from the group were shared with The Associated Press, showing some of the 2,200 members –police officers, chiefs and retired law enforcement officials-made regular transphobic bullying or violent posts, and bullied members who supported anti-police brutality protesters or Joe Biden in a forum billed as a place officers can “decompress, rant, share ideas.”
March 22, 2021 7:30 am
LONDON (AP) – AstraZeneca says its COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States. AstraZeneca said Monday that its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding no increased risk of rare blood clots identified in Europe. Although AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been authorized in more than 50 countries, it has not yet been given the green light in the U.S. It has struggled to gain public trust amid a troubled rollout. The study comprised more than 30,000 volunteers, of whom two-thirds were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots.
March 22, 2021 4:25 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Miami Beach officials are extending an emergency 8 p.m. curfew for at least another week. Sunday’s decision by city commissioners comes after days of intense partying, where unruly crowds gathered by the thousands on South Beach, fighting in the streets, destroying property and ignoring masks and other COVID-19 orders. Tourists are being encouraged to stay inside their hotels and pedestrians or vehicles are not allowed to enter the restricted area after 8 p.m. SWAT officers in bulletproof vests dispersed pepper spray balls to break up defiant crowds. Miami Beach Police say more than 1,000 people have been arrested this month.
March 22, 2021 4:22 am
Despite the clamor to speed up the U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19, the first three months of the rollout suggest faster is not necessarily better. A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina and Florida that raced to offer the vaccine to ever-larger groups of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than those that moved more slowly and methodically, such as Hawaii and Connecticut. The explanation, as experts see it: The rapid expansion of eligibility caused a surge in demand too big for some states to handle. The result was serious disarray, confusion and frustration. The analysis may hold an important lesson for states as they rush to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of making all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1.
March 22, 2021 4:21 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Hundreds of people have been rescued from floodwaters that have isolated dozens of towns in Australia’s most populous state New South Wales and forced thousands to evacuate their homes as record rain continues. Around 18,000 people had been evacuated from flooding in New South Wales and emergency services feared up to 54,000 people could be displaced. Rain is forecast to continue until Wednesday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament that 35 communities in northern New South Wales had been isolated and emergency services had conducted more than 700 flood rescues.
March 22, 2021 4:19 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Jury selection enters its third week Monday for a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death. Thirteen jurors have been seated for Derek Chauvin’s trial on murder and manslaughter charges, with the judge saying two more will be seated ahead of opening statements expected March 29. Only 12 will deliberate; the others will be alternates. Last week, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill declined defense requests to delay or move the trial over concerns that a massive settlement to George Floyd’s family would affect the jury. The 13 jurors seated so far are a diverse group.
March 22, 2021 4:17 am
Many people are contributing to GoFundMe pages for victims of the deadly Atlanta-area shootings. Randy Park launched a page asking for $20,000 to help pay funeral expenses for his mother, who was killed in the attacks. By Sunday, the donations were approaching $3 million. To date, no central fund has been created to aid families of the victims – a contrast with some other mass shootings where groups have been set up to collect and distribute money to those directly affected. For now, potential donors to the most recent attack must scour individual GoFundMe accounts.
March 22, 2021 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – State Senate Republicans have killed a proposal to employ an emergency process to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to give victims of child sexual abuse a two-year window in which to file civil lawsuits. Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward announced Monday that the Wolf administration’s failure to advertise a proposed constitutional amendment doesn’t justify using the emergency amendment process. She says the Republican majority plans to start over, using the conventional amendment process. The Department of State announced six weeks ago it had failed to arrange the mandatory advertisement for a conventional constitutional amendment last year. Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa accused Republicans of delaying justice “over a clerical mistake.”
March 22, 2021 2:26 am
The Washington County Coroner’s Office has identified a man who was struck and killed by a train Friday afternoon in Carroll Township. Authorities say an autopsy is pending on the body of 50-year-old Christopher Sydlik of Freeport. He was hit by a Norfolk Southern Train near Route 837 and Jones Lane. The coroner’s office say evidence at this point in time leads them to believe that this was a deliberate act on Sydlik’s part. Sydlik’s death remains under investigation by Norfolk Southern Police.
March 21, 2021 8:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. relations with its two biggest geo-political rivals are facing severe tests as President Joe Biden tries to assert America’s place in the world and distinguish himself from his predecessor. Airing myriad complaints, the Biden administration took an extraordinarily tough line with China and Russia this past week. Public spats between the countries erupted as Biden characterized Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “killer” and his top national security aides excoriated China for a litany of issues. Moscow and Beijing both fired back, setting the stage for months, if not more, of escalating tensions that are unlikely to be resolved without intense discussions at the leadership level and major concessions from all sides. Biden himself kicked off the latest round of recrimination in a television interview in which he sought to draw clear differences between his Russia policies and those of former President Donald Trump. who was accused of being soft on Putin. Just 24 hours later, Biden’s top diplomat and national security adviser blasted Chinese officials in face-to-face talks. Although Biden’s strong comments about Putin reflected a shift from Trump’s often conciliatory approach to the Kremlin, the harsh criticism directed at China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan in many ways mirrored the previous administration’s hard line toward Beijing.
