October 7, 2021 10:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, another sign that the U.S. job market and economy continue their steady recovery from last year’s coronavirus recession. The Labor Department said Thursday that unemployment claims were down by 38,000 to 326,000, the first drop in four weeks. Since surpassing 900,000 in early January, the weekly applications, a proxy for layoffs, had fallen more or less steadily all year. Still, they remain elevated from pre-pandemic levels: Before COVID-19 hammered the U.S. economy in March 2020, weekly claims were consistently coming in at around 220,000.
October 7, 2021 8:52 am
Pfizer is asking the U.S. government to allow use of its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. If regulators agree, shots could begin within a matter of weeks. Pfizer already had announced that a lower dose of its vaccine worked and appeared safe in a study of the youngsters. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Thursday officially filed its application with the Food and Drug Administration. FDA’s advisers are scheduled to debate the evidence later this month. Until now the vaccine was available only as young as 12, and many parents and pediatricians are clamoring for protection for younger kids.
October 7, 2021 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is poised to sue government contractors and other companies who receive U.S. government grants if they fail to report breaches of their cyber systems. That’s according to the Justice Department’s No. 2 official. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the department is prepared to take legal action under a statute called the False Claims Act against contractors who misuse federal dollars by failing to disclose hacks or by having deficient cybersecurity standards. The department will also protect whistleblowers who come forward to report those issues.
October 7, 2021 4:10 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Los Angeles leaders have voted to enact one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates. The sweeping measure requires the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms and even a Lakers game. The City Council on Wednesday voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance and Mayor Eric Garcetti signed it. Supporters say it’s a way of preventing more COVID-19 surges. Critics say the measure raises concerns about enforcement and will sow confusion because a less-sweeping vaccination mandate scheduled to take effect next month in Los Angeles County as a whole only applies to bars, breweries and nightclubs.
October 7, 2021 4:09 am
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) – A powerful earthquake has collapsed at least one coal mine and as many as 100 mud houses in a remote, mountainous part of southwest Pakistan. The quake early Thursday killed at least 20 people and injured more than 200. A local official says the death toll is expected to rise further. At least four of the dead were working in a coal mine when it collapsed. The 5.9 magnitude quake was in a remote part of Baluchistan province where most residents live in sunbaked mud houses. Television images showed people wrapped in blankets outdoors in the chilly morning air waiting for the aftershocks to subside and help to arrive.
October 7, 2021 4:08 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A federal judge has ordered Texas to suspend a new law that has banned most abortions in the state since September. The order Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman freezes for now the strict abortion law known as Senate Bill 8. It bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks. That is before some women even know they’re pregnant. The decision is the first legal blow to the Texas law since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to take effect last month. Abortion providers in Texas say the restrictions have backlogged clinics hundreds of miles away as women now leave state borders to seek care. Texas officials were expected to seek a swift appeal.
October 7, 2021 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate leaders have announced an agreement to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December, temporarily averting an unprecedented default that experts say would have decimated the economy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the announcement as he opened the Senate on Thursday. He said he hoped the Senate could vote later in the day. Republican leader Mitch McConnell made the offer of a short term extension Wednesday. President Joe Biden and business leaders have ramped up their concerns over what an unprecedented federal default would mean for the nation’s economy.
October 7, 2021 4:04 am
SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) – Officials in a rural western Pennsylvania county say the prosecutor’s access to his office and the courthouse are restricted after he was charged last month with violently raping a woman he knew through work. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas is charged with rape in an alleged attack on the woman in her Windber home. County Solicitor Michael Barbera says Thomas can no longer enter the building through side doors or after hours and no longer has access to a law enforcement database. The 36-year-old Republican said last week he plans a leave of absence to focus on his case. His lawyer says Thomas denies the allegations.
October 7, 2021 2:56 am
A person of interest is in custody after shots fired led to a SWAT situation near the campus of California University. University officials say campus and borough police cordoned off a two-block area near Third and Union streets Wednesday afternoon. An alert went out Wednesday morning saying that police were investigating shots fired near the corner of those streets around 9:20 a.m. There were no injuries reported and University officials tell WJPA classes were never interrupted and no students were involved. California Borough Police and the Washington County District Attorney’s office are continuing to investigate. According to Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh, the suspect went into an apartment building nearby and wouldn’t come out so officers from multiple agencies and the SWAT team were called in. The SWAT situation went on for hours and eventually the man surrendered to police. The identity of the suspect hasn’t been released, nor the charges he’ll face. The DA says there weren’t any warrants out for his arrest.
October 7, 2021 2:21 am
(WPXI) – A large gas leak had emergency crews prepared to evacuate homes Thursday morning in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, officials said. The leak happened when a construction crew hit a gas line at the intersection of Zulema Street and Coltart Avenue, which is next to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, which is not affected. “UPMC is aware of a gas leak near the Boulevard of the Allies in Oakland. This is not impacting UPMC Magee operations. The hospital is open, safe and able to provide care for all,” a UPMC spokesperson said in a statement. The process of starting to evacuate homes was stopped after firefighters conducted readings in the area and determined it was not necessary, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.
