August 24, 2021 4:11 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s Walt Disney World will require union employees as well as non-union and salaried workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep their jobs at the theme park. The deal was reached Monday with a union coalition, shortly after the Pfizer vaccine earned full Food and Drug Administration approval. It requires the workers to show proof of vaccination by Oct. 22 to remain employed, although employees can request exemptions for medical or religious reasons, a union statement says.
August 24, 2021 4:09 am
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – The politically-charged Florida debate over wearing masks in school to guard against coronavirus infection is now before a judge. Hearings began Monday in a lawsuit that challenges Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order reserving the student mask decision for parents. The lawsuit contends school boards should have authority to require masks as a health and safety matter. The state contends the DeSantis order meets constitutional and legal requirements to give parents choice. At least eight school districts covering more than 1 million students are requiring masks anyway, risking financial punishment by defying DeSantis. The court hearing continues through Wednesday.
August 24, 2021 4:08 am
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Kathy Hochul has become New York’s first female governor. The Democrat from western New York assumed the office at the stroke of midnight Tuesday. She’s taking control of a state government desperate to get back to business after months of distractions over sexual harassment allegations against Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo submitted his resignation letter late Monday. Hochul’s ascent to the top job comes as the state is dealing with a rising number of COVID-19 cases and an economy still hurting from the pandemic.
August 24, 2021 4:06 am
HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii Governor David Ige is asking people not to visit the islands. He said it’s not a good time to travel to the islands and that he wants visitors and residents to limit travel to essential purposes. He is making this request while the state struggles to control COVID-19 as the highly contagious delta variant spreads in the community. As part of the effort to curb the spread, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi says he will restrict indoor gatherings to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 25. Blangiardi says the rules would affect weddings and other events and take effect on Wednesday. He’s also urging people to get vaccinated.
August 24, 2021 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – An administration official says President Joe Biden has decided to stick with his Aug. 31 deadline for completing a U.S.-led evacuation of Americans and at-risk Afghans from the Kabul airport and for withdrawing the remaining U.S. forces. The decision reflects a growing fear of extremist attacks at the Kabul airport but also opens Biden to domestic political complaints of caving to Taliban demands and of potentially leaving some Americans and Afghan allies behind. Earlier, a Taliban spokesman said in Kabul that the group will insist the United States complete its withdrawal by Aug. 31. Meanwhile, the U.S. pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights so far.
August 24, 2021 4:02 am
Peters Township Council intends to continue their permit process for a spillway project that could cost millions. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection orders the township to redesign Peters Lake dam spillway with new capacity standards. The spillway parameters must now hold 22 inches of rainfall within two hours in order to discharge excess water. However, township manager Paul Lauer believes the spillway already has “proven to be adequate.” “The largest storm that we have record of is Hurricane Ivan, and the spillway had lots of additional capacity,” says Lauer. Council hired Rizzo International Inc. to determine reconstruction designs in Apr. 2021, but these solutions would cost an estimated $4.5-5 million, according to their draft report. Council, shocked by the expenses, discussed getting a permit from DEP and finding out the actual project cost at Monday evening’s council meeting. Lauer says council should then determine whether to appeal or to seek adequate funding for the project. “We have to find out the cost of the project and then we’ll find out if that’s something appropriate to spend township funds on or whether we’re going to seek assistance from elsewhere- as of right now I haven’t identified any place where there’s money for this kind of project,” Lauer says. Council will continue the permit process, but Lauer says there won’t be any “immediate permit issue for the dam” since the process takes a long time.
August 24, 2021 2:41 am
Students in the Washington School District will be wearing masks from the first day of school on August 30th until at least September 20th when the school board will re-examine the issue. The board voted 7-2 Monday to require masks for all indoor school activities and K-12 classrooms until the next voting board meeting on September 20th. Students will not be required to be masked for outdoor activities or at the stadium. The Washington School Board held a special zoom meeting at noon to approve some final staff changes for the upcoming school year, and to revisit the issue of masks. The district’s original Health and Safety Plan for the 2021-22 School Year was submitted to the state earlier in the summer before the numbers of cases began increasing again. Several teachers and board members on the Zoom call expressed their concerns about the safety of all and urged the board to vote for the mandatory masks, while two parents (a husband and wife) expressed their discontent, urging the choice of masking to be made by parents. Families are being notified by the district of the revised policy.
August 24, 2021 2:37 am
Paving work will close McElree road in North Franklin Township Tuesday and Wednesday, August 24th and 25th. Township officials say the two and a half mile stretch of road will be closed from Greenhill Drive to Scenic Drive. They say the road will be open only to local traffic.
August 24, 2021 2:37 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says it’s settling a lawsuit against International Business Machines Corp. after suing the company four years ago and accusing it of failing to deliver on a contract for an updated system of processing unemployment compensation claims. In a brief statement Tuesday, the Department of Labor and Industry revealed no terms other than saying that IBM “acknowledged no liability or wrongdoing.” The lawsuit said the technology and consulting giant was paid $170 million on a 2006 contract, but had delivered a failed project by the time the state let the contract expire in 2013. IBM had said the state’s claims had no merit.
August 24, 2021 2:05 am
Governor Tom Wolf on Monday, ordered the commonwealth flag on all state facilities, public buildings and grounds in Washington County to fly at half-staff immediately, to honor Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone, who died Saturday, following a battle with lung cancer. Vittone had served as district attorney since 2012, after 12 years as an assistant district attorney. Vittone, who was sixty-one-years-old, leaves behind his wife Jane Ann and two children. A viewing is scheduled on Wednesday from two until eight o’clock at the Warco-Falvo Funeral Home in Washington. Vittone’s funeral service will be held at ten o’clock Thursday morning at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington. Jason Walsh, the county’s first assistant district attorney says he has been notified that he will be filling out Vittone’s term, but said he’s not concentrating on that now. He says the focus needs to be on Vittone’s family.
