March 12, 2021 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is urging Americans to “stick with the rules” as he wraps up his address to the nation on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of coronavirus pandemic. He is voicing optimism that the United States will edge toward a semblance of normalcy in the coming months, noting “there is hope and light of better days ahead if we all do our part.” But the president is also warning that “we may have to reinstate restrictions” if Americans fail to stay vigilant about social distancing and other precautions to help stem the virus. Biden spoke for 24 minutes from the East Room of the White House.
March 12, 2021 4:21 am
South Korea is extending its current measures on social distancing for at least another two weeks as it struggles to slow coronavirus infections in the greater capital area. The measures include clamping down on private social gatherings of five or more people nationwide and prohibiting indoor dining at restaurants and bars in the Seoul metropolitan area after 10 p.m. Authorities will inspect shopping malls, restaurants, public baths and private tutoring academies in the capital area over the next two weeks. While South Korea has wiggled out of its worst wave of the virus, it has still been seeing 300 to 400 new cases a day since mid-January.
March 12, 2021 4:20 am
HONOLULU (AP) – A community on the Hawaiian island of Kauai that was isolated by storm-triggered landslides three years ago is once again cut off after a landslide cut across a key road. The Kauai Emergency Management Agency says part of the Kuhio Highway will remain closed at least through Tuesday while officials assess the damage, remove debris and stabilize slopes. The landslide occurred after heavy rain battered the Hawaiian Islands for several days. The highway closure blocks off the town of Hanalei from the rest of the island. The county’s emergency managers said food supplies were available at stores and food pantries in the isolated communities.
March 12, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration says it has the authority to direct states to open up their vaccine supply to all adult Americans by May 1 using the same mechanism it used to order that teachers and childcare workers become eligible earlier this month. States are required to distribute the federally provided vaccines in accordance with guidelines set by the Department of Health and Human Services. The department will issue a directive telling states to allow all adults to be vaccinated under their eligibility criteria by May 1. The federal government also controls supply directly through the federal retail pharmacy program, federally run mass vaccination sites and federally qualified community health centers and could use those mechanisms as well to expand eligibility.
March 12, 2021 4:17 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over the Black man’s death in police custody. The settlement was announced Friday as jury selection continued in the trial of Derek Chauvin, a white former officer charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump planned a lawsuit later in the day. Floyd was declared dead May 25 after Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s family filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in July against the city, Chauvin and three other fired officers charged in his death.
March 12, 2021 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission will lift a year-old moratorium preventing utilities from terminating service to all non-paying customers, adopted as Gov. Tom Wolf ordered shutdowns to fight the coronavirus. The commission voted Thursday to lift the moratorium starting April 1 for lower-income customers, as federal aid becomes available to renters to help pay utility bills. Utilities had been permitted to resume disconnections last fall for residential customers above 300% of the federal poverty level, or about $79,000 in annual income for a family of four last year. The commission is also requiring utilities to give additional payment plan options.
March 12, 2021 4:14 am
BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. (AP) – A Bentleyville woodworking business owner is accused of joining rioters inside the U.S. Capitol two months ago, rifling through Electoral College vote certification related paperwork from a desk on the Senate floor. Federal court records unsealed this week show 36 year old Dale “DJ” Shalvey was charged in February with trespassing on Capitol grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct and obstruction of Congress. The case remained sealed until Tuesday, when he self-surrendered in Washington, D.C. Witnesses told the FBI that they knew Shalvey to be from the Wheeling area, but his driver’s license is listed as having a Bentleyville address, officials said. Shalvey is charged with obstructing an official proceeding; entering a restricted building; disrupting business; entering the Senate floor without authorization to disrupt official business; and demonstrating in the Capitol building. The FBI Pittsburgh division received multiple tips on Jan. 18 identifying him as being at the Capitol and inside the Senate chamber the day of the riot, according to a criminal complaint. One person told agents that they communicated with Shalvey directly via their cell phone that day, and Shalvey appeared to be filming from inside the Capitol building. In two videos Shalvey sent, he filmed the inside of the Capitol and Senate floor and pans the camera so his face is visible, the FBI said. In those images, he is wearing tactical, Army-green clothing, a helmet and gear.
March 12, 2021 2:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – In a deepening stalemate over financing highways and public transit, Gov. Tom Wolf wants to phase out Pennsylvania’s gasoline tax and is appointing a commission to recommend alternative ways to pay for the state’s needs. Wolf on Friday ordered a commission of lawmakers, transportation industry representatives, transportation planners, government officials and others to deliver recommendations by Aug. 1 of funding alternatives to foot the extra billions of dollars deemed to be necessary. The gas tax that Wolf calls “burdensome” isn’t keeping pace with construction needs as vehicles become more fuel-efficient and more motorists buy electric vehicles, transportation officials say. The gas tax is No. 2 in the nation.
March 11, 2021 3:43 pm
UNDATED (AP) – The White House says the $1,400 direct payments for most Americans funded by the American Rescue Plan will start showing up in bank accounts as early as this weekend. Press secretary Jen Psaki says the government will make the first direct deposits this weekend. She says payments will continue throughout the next several weeks. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office on Thursday. Besides the $1,400 direct payments to individuals, the plan includes money to help distribute coronavirus vaccines, provide relief to homeowners and renters, help reopen schools, provide aid to state and local governments, and an expansion of the child tax credit, among other features.
March 11, 2021 9:38 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A judge has granted prosecutors’ request to add a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death. Judge Peter Cahill on Thursday added the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as not warranted by the circumstances of Floyd’s death, but an appellate court ruling in an unrelated case established new grounds for it. Chauvin already faced second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Legal experts say the additional charge helps prosecutors by giving jurors one more option to convict Chauvin. Potential jurors in Chauvin’s trial return Thursday to continue the selection process that started this week.
