April 10, 2021 11:42 am
LONDON (AP) – Gun salutes across the U.K., in Commonwealth countries and at sea are marking the death of Britain’s Prince Philip as military leaders honor the former naval officer and husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Batteries of cannons and guns in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast fired off 41 rounds at one-minute intervals on Saturday. The Australian Defense Force offered its salute at 5 p.m. local time outside Parliament House in Canberra, while a Royal Navy crew shot from a salute from a ship in Oman. Members of the public left flowers outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle on Saturday, ignoring appeals from authorities and the royal family to refrain from gathering because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 10, 2021 11:40 am
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) – Extremely heavy ashfall is raining down on parts of the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent and a strong sulfur smell is enveloping communities áa day after a powerful explosion at La Soufriere volcano uprooted the lives of thousands of people who evacuated their homes under government orders. Caribbean nations including Antigua and Guyana offered help by either shipping emergency supplies or agreeing to temporarily open their borders to the roughly 16,000 evacuees fleeing ash-covered communities. The volcano kept rumbling Saturday and experts warned that explosive eruptions could continue for days or weeks.
April 10, 2021 11:38 am
More Black Americans say they are open to taking the coronavirus vaccine. The shift in public opinion comes amid nationwide efforts to overcome a shared historical distrust of science and government. A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in late March found about 24% of Black American adults said they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated. That’s down from 41% in January. The executive director of the American Public Health Association says attitudes toward the vaccine among Black Americans have taken “almost a 180-degree turnaround” as outreach campaigns have sought to combat misinformation.
April 10, 2021 11:36 am
State lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to limit the emergency powers of governors – not just in the current coronavirus pandemic, but for any future emergencies. The pushback is coming primarily from Republican lawmakers but is not entirely partisan. GOP lawmakers are targeting both Democratic and Republican governors. And some Democratic lawmakers also have sought to limit the powers of governors in their own party. Lawmakers say some states have been operating under emergency laws that date back decades and didn’t envision a crisis that stretched for more than a year.
April 10, 2021 11:32 am
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Republican state legislators have been in overdrive this year on so-called culture-war bills. They’ve moved firmly on abortion limits, restrictions on the rights of transgender youth and more. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson offered a rare rebuke of that effort this past week by vetoing a bill banning gender-confirming treatments for transgender youth. South Carolina, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee are among the states where GOP lawmakers are pushing similar cultural legislation from the right. The bills reflect the larger mood of the Republican Party as it portrays Democrats as out of touch with average Americans.
April 10, 2021 4:28 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – After a year of frustration over long waits for benefits, jammed phone lines and confusing filing procedures, Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry is promising a much quicker and easier unemployment compensation claims filing system. The new system scheduled to launch June 8 is based on what the department said Thursday is modern software to replace an “obsolete 40-year-old mainframe legacy system.” It arrives after a series of bungled efforts to replace the system began in 2006. Pandemic-related shutdowns starting last spring stressed the system like never before, as claims shot to record levels and swamped a barebones staff forced to work remotely.
April 10, 2021 4:27 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system are giving a little more detail about a federal probe, saying the agency received a subpoena, although it is staying silent about subpoenas said to have been received by top management officials. Officials at the Public School Employees’ Retirement System and board members have declined to answer questions publicly about what information federal investigators are seeking. In a brief statement Thursday, the $64 billion pension system said it had been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents. Pension system officials have said nothing about Tuesday’s revelation by state Treasurer Stacy Garrity that federal subpoenas were served on “several PSERS management officials.”
April 9, 2021 7:17 am
LONDON (AP) – Buckingham Palace officials say Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died. He was 99. Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle. Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, married Elizabeth in 1947 and was the longest-serving consort in British history. He retired from public engagements in 2017 after carrying out more than 20,000 of them. Philip was a member of the Greek royal family and was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921. He was an avid sportsman who loved country pursuits. He had four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Prince Philip will be laid to rest with all the honors due a prince of the United Kingdom and a consort to Queen Elizabeth II. But the coronavirus pandemic means it will be a more low-key farewell than has marked many royal deaths. The pandemic has required changes to the well-prepared plans for Philip’s passing. Philip’s body will not lie in state and he will not have a state funeral, in keeping with his wishes. His funeral will be held in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London, and is likely to be attended by close family. The palace has invited well-wishers to sign a book of condolences – but only online, to avoid crowds and queues.
April 9, 2021 4:21 am
BRYAN, Texas (AP) – Authorities say a man opened fire at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and wounding a state trooper before his arrest. A police statement says 27-year-old Larry Winston Bollin of Iola, Texas, has been charged with murder and being held on a $1 million bond. Authorities say Bollin shot and wounded a state trooper before he was arrested. Two of the five people wounded at the cabinet business are in critical condition. The three others and the trooper are in serious but stable condition. Police say Bollin worked at the company.
April 9, 2021 4:20 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A medical expert says George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen that damaged his brain and caused his heart to stop. Dr. Martin Tobin is a lung and critical care specialist from Illinois. He testified Thursday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial that Floyd’s breathing was too shallow to take in enough oxygen while he was pinned on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back for 9 1/2 minutes. His testimony came a day after a use-of-force expert said Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck area the entire time that he pinned.
