February 16, 2021 10:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is extending a ban on housing foreclosures to June 30 to help homeowners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. The moratorium on foreclosures of federally guaranteed mortgages had been set to expire March 31. On his first day in office, Biden had extended the moratorium from Jan. 31. Census Bureau figures show that almost 12% of homeowners with mortgages were late on their payments. The White House says the coordinated actions announced Tuesday by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture also will extend to June 30 the enrollment window for borrowers who want to request a pause or reduction in mortgage payments.
February 16, 2021 4:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Homeland Security chairman has sued Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol. Democrat Bennie Thompson alleges that Trump conspired with members of far-right extremist groups to try to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential election results. The federal court lawsuit is part of an expected wave of litigation over the riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress. It was filed under a Reconstruction-era law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act and comes days after Trump was acquitted in an impeachment trial. The suit seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. A Trump adviser says Trump “did not incite” any violence at the Capitol.
February 16, 2021 3:55 am
BOSTON (AP) – The right-wing friendly social network Parler says it’s re-launching. The Twitter alternative was forced offline following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Parler has been struggling to get back online since Amazon canceled its web-hosting service on Jan. 11 over Parler’s unwillingness to remove posts inciting violence. An interim CEO, Mark Meckler of the Tea Party Patriots movement, said in a statement Monday that Parler would be brought back online for current users this week with new users being able to sign up next week. But the site’s only presence Monday evening was a single, static webpage.
February 16, 2021 3:54 am
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s administration is increasing coronavirus vaccine supplies sent to states to 13.5 million doses per week. White House press secretary Jen Psaki says that represents a 57% increase from when Biden took office nearly a month ago on Jan. 20th. Psaki also says the administration is doubling, to 2 million doses per week, the amount of vaccine being sent to pharmacies across the country as part of a program to extend access into neighborhoods. Jeff Zients, Biden’s coronavirus coordinator, made the announcements during a regular White House call with governors on Tuesday. Psaki says the administration is monitoring severe weather across parts of the country that has forced some vaccination centers to close temporarily, and that could jeopardize the viability of the vaccines.
February 16, 2021 3:52 am
OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. (AP) – A winter storm that left millions without power in record-breaking cold weather has claimed more lives. The dead include three people found dead after a tornado (pictured) hit a seaside town in North Carolina and four family members who perished in a Houston-area house fire while using a fireplace to stay warm. The storm that overwhelmed power grids and immobilized the Southern Plains carried heavy snow and freezing rain into New England and the Deep South and left behind painfully low temperatures. Wind-chill warnings extended from Canada into Mexico. At least 11 deaths were reported from other causes, including car crashes and carbon monoxide poisoning.
February 16, 2021 3:50 am
EXTON, Pa. (AP) – No arrests have been made in the case of graffiti painted outside the suburban Philadelphia home of one of the attorneys defending former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. A detective with the West Whiteland Township Police Department in Chester County said the graffiti were reported Friday evening at the home of attorney Michael van der Veen. The Philadelphia Inquirer posted a photo showing the word “Traitor” in red paint at the entrance of the driveway and an arrow pointing to the home. Pezick says the home now has private security and police have been patrolling “to deter anything from happening.”
February 16, 2021 3:49 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Republican Party may meet to discuss censuring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey over his vote to convict Donald Trump during the former president’s second impeachment trial. County party officials said the state GOP chairman, Lawrence Tabas, emailed them shortly after Saturday’s impeachment vote to tell them that a meeting is being planned to discuss the Senate’s action. Toomey is one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump of “incitement of insurrection.” A resolution to censure Toomey came up for discussion at the state party’s leadership committee meeting on Feb. 6, weeks after Toomey had said Trump committed “impeachable offenses” in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. They decided against voting on it.
February 16, 2021 3:45 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Lawmakers are kicking off budget hearings as Pennsylvania state government faces a multibillion-dollar revenue gap, a hangover from the ongoing pandemic. Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to raise the state income tax, but structure it to shift the new burden to higher earners, took center stage at Tuesday’s hearing with Wolf’s revenue secretary, Daniel Hassell. Republicans, who control the Legislature, questioned whether Wolf’s income tax proposal is constitutional and whether it is wise to raise taxes. It is designed to lower taxes on lower-income households and raise them on higher-income households. Democrats countered that Wolf’s proposal can help reduce property taxes, fix the deficit, fairly fund schools and cut taxes for lower-income workers.
February 16, 2021 2:44 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Black Americans attend church more regularly than Americans overall, and pray more often. Most attend churches that are predominantly Black, yet many would like those congregations to become racially diverse. Those are among key findings in a Pew Research Center survey of 8,660 Black adults nationwide about their religious experiences. Pew found there is broad respect for the historical role Black churches have played in seeking racial equality, coupled with a widespread perception they have lost influence in recent decades. Among all Black adults who go to religious services, 60% attend churches where the senior clergy and most or all of the congregation are Black.
February 16, 2021 2:11 am
NORTH HUNTINGTON, Pa. (AP) – Police say a head-on crash on a western Pennsylvania road killed four people and seriously injured one other person over the weekend. North Huntingdon Township police said a westbound vehicle on Route 30 ended up in the eastbound lane and hit another vehicle at about 6 p.m. Sunday. Police said one driver, 51-year-old Thu Thi Xuan Nguyen of Greensburg, died at the scene. Police said two passengers from North Huntingdon, 67-year-old Lan Thi Trinh and 30-year-old Phuongan Trinh Tran, were pronounced dead at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. Police said a passenger in the other car, 44-year-old Jeffrey Tomay of McKeesport, also died at the scene and the driver was hospitalized.
