October 14, 2021 4:08 am
CHICAGO (AP) – The head of the Chicago police officers union has called on its members to defy the city’s requirement to report their COVID-19 vaccination status before the weekend or be placed on unpaid leave. In the video posted online Tuesday, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara vowed to take Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to court if it tries to enforce the mandate, which requires city workers to report their vaccine status by Friday. Unvaccinated workers who won’t submit to semiweekly coronavirus testing will be placed on unpaid leave. Catanzara suggested that if the city does enforce its requirement and many union members don’t comply with it, the city’s police force will be “at 50% or less” this weekend.
October 14, 2021 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Progressive leaders in Congress are warning against what they say is a “false choice” over how to trim President Joe Biden’s now-$2 trillion proposal for beefing up social services and tackling climate change. That’s according to a letter Wednesday to Democratic congressional leaders and Biden, obtained by the Associated Press. The progressives argue against cutting out some items in Biden’s proposal as centrist lawmakers prefer. Instead, they want to keep Biden’s wider vision but for fewer years. They say that would include “shorter, transformative investments” that could be started quickly and then revisited. The $2 trillion is to be paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
October 13, 2021 1:56 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general has announced his candidacy for governor. Josh Shapiro released a campaign video in which he sought to tie Republican rivals to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn last year’s election. Shapiro is running unopposed in the Democratic primary so far, while the Republican field is crowded with state senators, business leaders, a former congressman, a former federal prosecutor under Trump and others. The Republican Governors Association said Shapiro would continue what it called the “failed policies” of the incumbent governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. (Photo: WPXI)
October 13, 2021 12:48 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas and other fuels, the U.S. government said Wednesday it expects households to see jumps of up to 54% for their heating bills from last winter. The sharpest increases are likely for homes that use propane, but others are also likely to see big increases. Homes that use natural gas, which make up nearly half of all U.S. households, may spend $746 this winter, 30% more than a year ago. A forecast for a colder winter means people will likely be burning more fuel to keep warm, on top of paying more for each bit of it.
October 13, 2021 9:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic. The COLA increase amounts to $92 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration. The increase affects household budgets for about 1 in 5 Americans, nearly 70 million people, including Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees. Policymakers say it’s a safeguard to protect benefits against a loss of purchasing power, and not a pay raise for retirees.
October 13, 2021 4:12 am
VAN HORN, Texas (AP) – Hollywood’s Captain Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner, has blasted into space and safely returned to Earth in a convergence of science fiction and science reality. He set out Wednesday morning for the final frontier aboard a ship built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company. The “Star Trek” hero becomes the oldest person to ride a rocket. The fully automatic spacecraft reached an altitude of 66.5 miles over the West Texas desert. The up-and-down flight lasted about 10 minutes, with Shatner and his three fellow passengers parachuting back to Earth in the capsule. (Photo: CNN)
October 13, 2021 4:11 am
A recording shows that the pilot of a twin-engine plane was repeatedly warned to fly straight and to climb before he crashed into a San Diego suburb, killing himself and someone on the ground. An air traffic controller repeated warnings more than a dozen times to Dr. Sugata Das before the plane plowed into a neighborhood in Santee on Monday, burning and damaging several homes. The crash also killed 61-year-old Steve Krueger, a UPS driver who was nearing retirement. The crash is under federal investigation. But some experts say the pilot may have been distracted by something or may have become disoriented in cloudy weather.
October 13, 2021 4:10 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The union representing film and television crews says its 60,000 members will begin a nationwide strike on Monday if it does not reach a deal that satisfies demands for fair and safe working conditions. A strike would bring a halt to filming on a broad swath of film and television productions and extend well beyond Hollywood, affecting productions in Georgia, New Mexico and other North American shoots. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees International President Matthew Loeb said Wednesday that the strike would begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday unless an agreement is reached on rest and meal periods and pay for its lowest-paid workers.
October 13, 2021 4:08 am
SEATTLE (AP) – The Boeing Co. has told employees they must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or possibly be fired. The Seattle Times reports the deadline for workers at the aerospace giant is Dec. 8. Employees can request exemptions “due to a disability or sincerely held religious belief.” The policy will apply to roughly 125,000 US-based employees company-wide, with about 57,000 of those in Washington state. Boeing may face more resistance to the new policy in some Republican-controlled states. On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order barring private companies or any other entity from requiring vaccines. Boeing has more than 5,000 employees in Texas. It has about 32,000 more at facilities in Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
October 13, 2021 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration says the United States will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All international visitors will need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel, such as trade, since the earliest days of the pandemic. The new rules to be announced Wednesday will allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals entry to the U.S. regardless of the reason for travel. That starts in early November, when a similar easing of restrictions is set to kick in for air travel.
