January 22, 2021 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Lloyd J. Austin, the West Point graduate who rose to the Army’s elite ranks and marched through racial barriers in a 41-year career, has won Senate confirmation to become the nation’s first Black secretary of defense. The vote gives President Joe Biden his second Cabinet member; Avril Haines was confirmed on Wednesday as the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence. Biden is expected to win approval for others on his national security team in coming days, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state. Austin served 41 years in the Army, retiring in 2016.
January 22, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – As many as 15,000 National Guard members are preparing to leave Washington, D.C. and head home now that the inauguration of President Joe Biden is over. Enforcement agencies say the inaugural went off with only a handful of minor arrests and incidents. The National Guard Bureau says that of the nearly 26,000 Guard troops deployed to D.C. for the inaugural, just 10,600 remain on duty. The bureau said the Guard is helping states with coordination and the logistics so that troops can get home.
January 22, 2021 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell wants to postpone Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. McConnell on Thursday proposed delaying the trial until February to give the former president time to prepare and review his case. The idea could appeal to some Senate Democrats, who are eager to spend time confirming President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees. The House impeached Trump on a single charge of incitement of insurrection for the deadly attack on the Capitol that unfolded on Jan. 6. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the trial has to happen even though Trump has left office so that there is accountability.
January 22, 2021 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate remained stable and on par with the national rate in December, although the labor force and payrolls shrank. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 6.7%, down one-tenth of a percentage point from November’s adjusted rate of 6.8%. In a survey of households, the labor force shrank by an estimated 15,000. Payrolls in Pennsylvania fell by almost 38,000. Pennsylvania has regained a little over half of the 1.1 million jobs lost in the pandemic. Payrolls in eight of 11 job sectors fell, with leisure and hospitality – a category that includes restaurants and bars – losing the most of any sector.
January 22, 2021 4:13 am
Some of Pennsylvania’s largest health systems are delivering a reality check after the state greatly expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine this week. Hospital officials say there’s not nearly enough vaccine to meet surging demand. Pennsylvania has expanded initial eligibility for the vaccine to include people age 65 and over as well as younger people with serious health conditions. Some 3.5 million people are now eligible to receive one of the two approved vaccines. The slow vaccine rollout comes as Pennsylvania surpassed 20,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
January 22, 2021 2:49 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is elevating two officials involved in his administration’s response to the coronavirus to replace the departing Dr. Rachel Levine as his health secretary and physician general. Wolf said Friday he intends to nominate a deputy chief of staff, Alison Beam, to take over as secretary of the Department of Health. Wolf, meanwhile, elevated Dr. Wendy Braund, the Covid-19 response director for the department, to the position of the acting interim physician general. Beam has helped coordinate the administration’s pandemic response. Levine’s last day was to be Friday, as she prepares to become President Joe Biden’s nominee to be his assistant secretary of health.
January 22, 2021 2:06 am
Hearings for Local Share Account funds consideration ended on Friday morning and the 10 member committee approved 42 projects for funding. Chairman Jeff Kotula listed all of the projects in a live streamed vote that awarded $6,603,315 in funds derived from gaming revenues as required by the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. The recommendations are spread along many interests. Some of the grants recommended were façade improvement programs in Washington and Canonsburg, a public access improvement project at Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, a collision repair spray booth at Washington Area Career and Technology Center and a trash compactor project for the City Mission. The City of Washington was recommended for its Code Enforcement Demolition program and the Washington County Home Rehabilitation Access and Buyer Assistance Program was recommended as well. The list of projects will now be forwarded to the Washington County Commissioners for their approval.
January 21, 2021 4:21 am
BEIJING (AP) – Chinese state media say a worker trapped in a gold mine for more than a week has died as rescuers are trying to clear debris and improve ventilation to save 21 others. Cages, skips and other debris blocked the mine’s main shaft after the explosion. Rescuers are drilling other shafts for communication, ventilation and possibly to lift trapped workers to the surface. Rescuers have been in contact with 11 workers trapped in one chamber and have delivered food. The worker who died had a head injury, and two others in that chamber are in poor health. Another worker was reportedly alive in a nearby chamber, but the fate of another 10 is unknown.
January 21, 2021 4:18 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California says it’s safe to resume using a batch of coronavirus vaccine after some people fell ill and a halt to injections was recommended. Wednesday’s decision frees up more than 300,000 doses to counties, cities and hospitals struggling to obtain supplies. The state Department of Public Health on Sunday urged a pause in using a specific lot of the Moderna vaccine. That came after fewer than 10 people had possible allergic reactions after receiving shots at a San Diego vaccination site. But the state’s epidemiologist says a safety review found “no scientific basis to continue the pause” and shots can resume immediately.
January 21, 2021 4:16 am
MENDON, N.Y. (AP) – Three National Guard members on a routine training flight have been killed in a helicopter crash in a western New York town. The craft, a UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter, crashed around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mendon, New York, a rural town south of Rochester. Eric Durr, public affairs director of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, says it flew out of the Army Aviation Support Facility at Rochester International Airport, and was assigned to C Company of the 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Battalion. The circumstances were under investigation.
