August 31, 2021 3:15 am
(WPXI) – A judge has denied the motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court Monday after a group of parents wanted the Canon-McMillan School District to require masks. Classes resumed last week and masks are optional right now. The lawsuit asked a judge to require students and staff to wear masks. Parents of some students say that with how the delta variant is spreading, masks should be mandatory. The attorney representing the parents was successful in obtaining a temporary restraining order in the North Allegheny School District that made masks mandatory. The district reverted back to an optional policy, according to the attorney, just days before the start of the school year and by then, parents had missed the deadline for alternative educational programs like learning from home.
August 31, 2021 2:40 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians will lose federal unemployment benefits after this week, including an extra $300 per week, an extra 13 weeks of benefits and benefits for the self-employed. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Monday that there are sources of help for people who need it once those benefits run out, including federal rental assistance through counties, Medicaid, food stamps and temporary cash-assistance for low-income families. The state’s regular 26-week unemployment compensation benefits will continue, without the extra $300 federal benefit on top. The American Rescue Plan Act, signed by President Joe Biden in March, extended those federal benefits and set them to expire after this week.
August 31, 2021 2:22 am
COVID cases in Washington County are continuing to climb and so are the number of fatalities. Over the weekend, Washington County reported two new COVID related deaths, bringing the county’s death toll to 317. There were also 182 new infections reported, bringing the overall total to 19,369. In Allegheny County, over the past seventy-two hours, there were 945 new cases and one new death. Across Pennsylvania, over that same time period, health officials reported more than 9,000 new cases along with 34 new deaths. Hospitalizations across the state are going up as well, with more than seventeen-hundred individuals hospitalized. Four-hundred and seventy-six of those patients are in the intensive care unit. Vaccinations continue to remain rather stagnant, even with the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine. State health officials say sixty-five-point-seven-percent of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated.
August 30, 2021 1:56 pm
UNDATED (AP) – The Education Department says it’s investigating five Republican-led states that have banned mask requirements in schools, saying the policies could amount to discrimination against students with disabilities or health conditions. The department’s office for civil rights sent letters to education chiefs in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. Those states have barred schools from requiring masks among students and staff, a move that the department says could prevent some students from safely attending school. It marks a sharp escalation in the Biden administration’s battle with Republican states that say wearing masks should be a personal choice.
August 30, 2021 4:19 am
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) – Fire officials have ordered more evacuations around the Tahoe Basin as crews deal with a two-week old blaze. Officials said Sunday evening the fire was “more aggressive than anticipated” as it continues to edge toward Lake Tahoe. Cal Fire Division Chief Erich Schwab said the Caldor Fire has been growing by about a half-mile each day for the last few days but on Sunday expanded by 2.5 miles. The Caldor Fire is 19% contained after burning nearly 245 square miles. More than 600 structures have been destroyed and at least 18,000 more were under threat.
August 30, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States has completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war and closing a sad two-decade chapter in military history. It’s likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of 13 service members, some barely older than the war. The last U.S. Air Force evacuation flight from Kabul airport late Monday marked the end of a frantic effort to get out Americans, Afghans and others desperate to escape the Taliban’s return to power 20 years after they were ousted in a U.S.-led invasion. More than 2,400 Americans lost their lives in the long war.
August 30, 2021 4:17 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A fearsome Hurricane Ida has left scores of coastal Louisiana residents trapped by floodwaters and pleading to be rescued, while making a shambles of the electrical grid across a wide swath of the state in the sweltering, late-summer heat. One of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland has now weakened into a tropical storm as it pushes inland over Mississippi with torrential rain and shrieking winds. Two people have died. No major flooding was reported inside the flood control system that protect New Orleans. But a million people were without power and officials warned it could be weeks before the grid is fixed.
August 30, 2021 4:14 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actor Ed Asner, the blustery but lovable Lou Grant in two successful television series, has died. He was 91. Asner’s representative confirmed the death in an email Sunday to The Associated Press. Asner was a journeyman actor in films and TV when he was hired in 1970 to play the grumpy TV news boss, Lou Grant, on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The show ended after seven seasons and Asner moved on to star in “Lou Grant,” playing the same character, but in a newspaper drama. He won Emmys for both shows as well as for “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Roots.”
August 30, 2021 4:09 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Officials say more than 500 people fleeing the violence engulfing Afghanistan have arrived in Philadelphia. The city said Sunday afternoon that 505 total evacuees came through Philadelphia International Airport on two aircraft Saturday. Officials said several hundred more evacuees were anticipated Sunday on three aircraft but “this remains fluid and is subject to change.” City, state and federal agencies as well as hospitals and nonprofits are providing food, comfort items and hygiene products as well as a medical evaluation. Volunteer interpreters who can help with Dari, Pashto, Urdu, or Farsi are being sought.
August 30, 2021 4:08 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – An effort to legalize marijuana use and sales in Ohio has cleared another hurdle on the path to getting the proposal submitted to the Legislature. The Ohio Ballot Board, a panel of legislative appointees led by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, voted Monday to approve the proposed statute from the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol as a single issue. The decision means the group can start gathering the nearly 133,000 valid signatures needed to submit the proposed state law to the Ohio Legislature, which will have four months to act. If it doesn’t, the measure would be placed on the Ohio ballot.
