August 18, 2021 2:51 am
(WPXI) – Leaders with the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council and local officials on Wednesday announced that Pittsburgh’s popular Labor Day Parade will be canceled for the second year. The groups gathered at the City-County Building, Downtown, to make the announcement. The parade was canceled in 2020 as cases of Covid-19 spread through the area. Leaders said the decision to cancel again this year was based on high transmission levels of the Delta variant and concerns for the safety of parade participants and spectators. A particular concern mentioned Wednesday was that the parade normally features more than 1,000 local teachers, and leaders said they could not in good conscience have that many teachers in a crowd of thousands and then send them back into classrooms, where children under the age of 12 are not eligible to be vaccinated.
August 17, 2021 3:52 pm
FIREBAUGH, Calif. (AP) – A deepening drought threatens California’s $6 billion almond industry, which produces about 80% of the world’s almonds. As water becomes scarce and expensive, some growers have stopped irrigating their orchards and plan to tear them out years earlier than planned. After decades of expansion in California’s agricultural Central Valley, almond production is expected to decline. That ácould lead to higher prices for consumers who have embraced the popular nut. As the drought drains reservoirs and forces restrictions on water use, critics say the thirsty crop isn’t sustainable at current levels in California. The state is becoming hotter and drier because of climate change.
August 17, 2021 4:32 am
UNDATED (AP) – State Fairs in the Midwest are offering COVID-19 vaccinations. In Iowa, a vaccination booth nestled among corn dog and funnel cake stands vaccinated 150 people in the first four days of the fair in a state where only half of the population is fully vaccinated. All but three of Iowa’s 99 counties are experiencing a substantial or high rate of spread. Public health officials recommend getting vaccinated or wearing a mask in crowds. The fair is on track to attract an estimated 1 million visitors. At the Indiana State Fair, 304 vaccines have been administered since July 30. And at the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee, 608 people were vaccinated over 11 days, perhaps enticed by the promise of a free cream puff pastry.
August 17, 2021 4:30 am
QUINCY, Calif. (AP) – Firefighters battling flames in Northern California forests are girding for new bouts of windy weather, and a utility has warned thousands of customers it might cut their electricity to prevent new fires from igniting if gusts damage power lines. Conditions that suppressed the huge Dixie Fire overnight gave way Monday afternoon to gusty winds that prompted an evacuation order for the small mountain community of Janesville. Forecasts call for similar winds through Thursday. Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric says winds predicted for Tuesday night may force public safety power shutoffs to 39,000 customers in parts of 16 counties.
August 17, 2021 4:29 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced that he and husband Chasten have become parents. Buttigieg, the first openly gay Cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate, posted the news Tuesday on Twitter. He says he and Chasten are “overjoyed” and that had wanted to grow their family for some time. He says the process isn’t done yet and that they would share more details soon. Buttigieg has talked publicly about his desire to become a father since his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Buttigieg and Chasten got married in June 2018, and Buttigieg’s own father died six months later.
August 17, 2021 4:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot. The goal is to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. An announcement was expected as soon as this week, with doses beginning to be administered widely once the Food and Drug Administration formally approves the vaccines. U.S. health officials recommended boosters last week for some with weakened immune systems.
August 17, 2021 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says the Taliban have agreed to allow safe passage for civilians seeking to leave Afghanistan. U.S. commanders at the Kabul airport are coordinating with the Taliban while accelerating the evacuation of Americans and at-risk Afghan allies. Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby says there have been no hostile actions by the Taliban, and that several hundred members of the now-defeated Afghan army are at the airport assisting in the evacuation. He said the U.S. military intends to complete the evacuation by Aug. 31, and that any decision to extend it would require presidential approval.
August 17, 2021 4:12 am
In what was an emotional and sometimes argumentative school board meeting, the Peters Township School Board voted to amend their health and safety plan for the 2021-2022 school year. Thirty residents spoke at the beginning of the meeting. Most that spoke were in favor of the health and safety plan in effect that allowed parental choice as to whether students could attend class with or without masks. That public comment went on for nearly two hours. Fifteen minutes later director Lisa Anderson opened the discussion on possible amendments to the plan. Director Rebecca Bowman put forth a motion calling for universal masking of all students, kindergarten through 12th grade, teachers and staff that would be reviewed at the end of the first semester. Anderson wanted to amend that amendment keeping students 12 and under masked but all others optional. Much discussion was held by the board with input from Superintendent Dr. Jeannine French, on how positive cases and associated quarantines would be addressed. Ultimately, Anderson’s amendment failed 6-3. Bowman’s original amendment passed on a roll call vote 5-4. Residents attending the meeting stormed out threatening law suits and extreme displeasure with the vote. Several indicated voting campaigns against the 5 members who voted in favor of the measure. Some of the parents in attendance are threatening to send their students to class without masks. District officials did not want to comment until they were absolutely clear on how this decision will affect operations in the district.
August 17, 2021 2:40 am
A Canonsburg man, charged with rape, appeared by video Tuesday, during his plea hearing in Washington County Court to request a jury trial. Nineteen-year-old Brady Hugh Paul is facing multiple charges, including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, strangulation and corruption of minors. Authorities say the alleged incident occurred on December 12, 2020, when Paul reportedly raped a sixteen-year-old girl at his home in Canonsburg. Paul allegedly also offered the girl marijuana. His trial has been scheduled for October 12th.
August 16, 2021 4:30 am
QUINCY, Calif. (AP) – Thousands of Northern California homes remain threatened by the nation’s largest wildfire and officials warn the danger of new blazes erupting across the West is high because of unstable weather. Thunderstorms haven’t produced much rain, but whipped up winds and generated lightning strikes across the northern Sierra where crews were battling the month-old Dixie Fire. Extreme heat returned Sunday, with temperatures expected to top 100 degrees. More than 100 large wildfires were burning in more than a dozen states in the West, a region seared by drought and hot, bone-dry weather that turned forests, brushlands, meadows and pastures into tinder.
