July 23, 2021 3:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Justice Department says it has decided not to open an investigation into whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for COVID-19 in a hospital. Thursday’s letter comes 11 months after the agency told the governors of Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and New York that it wanted information to determine whether orders there may have resulted in the deaths of nursing home residents. Michigan received an identical letter Thursday. The orders by the four governors were criticized for potentially fueling the spread of the virus. In Pennsylvania, it is far from clear that the policy led to an outbreak or death.
July 22, 2021 1:42 pm
(WPXI) – A car hit four bicyclists, killing one, early Thursday morning on Route 22 in Murrysville, officials said. The crash happened about 4 a.m. on Route 22 eastbound at Brick Hill Road. Eastbound lanes of Route 22 were closed until just before 7:30 a.m. Police said the bicyclists were part of a church group riding from Ohio to Altoona. The bicyclist who was killed, Marcus Coblentz, 25, of Sugarcreek, Ohio, died at the scene, officials said. The other three bicyclists were taken to a hospital and are expected to be OK, according to officials. Police said the 16-year-old driver of the car was not hurt and stayed at the scene to talk with investigators. It is not suspected that drugs or alcohol were involved. A 17-year-old was also in the car and was not hurt.
July 22, 2021 8:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week from the lowest point of the pandemic, even as the job market appears to be rebounding on the strength of a reopened economy. The Labor Department says jobless claims increased to 419,000 from 368,000 the previous week. The weekly number of first-time applications for benefits, which generally tracks layoffs, has fallen steadily since topping 900,000 in early January. Americans are shopping, traveling and eating out more as the pandemic has waned, boosting the economy and forcing businesses to scramble for more workers. Complaints by companies that they can’t find enough workers have led 22 states to prematurely end a $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit, which comes on top of state jobless aid.
July 22, 2021 4:21 am
UNDATED (AP) – The White House says there’s been no decision to change the COVID-19 guidance on wearing face masks. Press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Thursday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and not the White House, makes the decisions about public health. Psaki says any change in the guidance would come from CDC. The current guidance is that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear face masks while those who are unvaccinated should continue to wear them. White House and public health officials have been discussing whether to update the mask guidance because of the surge in COVID-19 infections blamed on the highly contagious delta variant.
July 22, 2021 4:21 am
A judge says victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront Florida condominium will get a minimum of $150 million in compensation initially. Judge Michael Hanzman said at a hearing Wednesday that sum includes insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and the expected proceeds from sale of the Surfside property where the structure once stood. It does not include proceeds from any of the numerous lawsuits filed since the June 24 collapse that left at least 97 people dead. Those lawsuits are being consolidated into a single class action potentially covering all victims and family members.
July 22, 2021 4:19 am
BEIJING (AP) – Local authorities say they have recovered the bodies of all 14 workers trapped when a tunnel under construction was flooded last week in central China. A brief statement on the Zhuhai city government’s social media site gave no further information about the cause of the disaster or the deaths. The tunnel is a section of an expressway being built beneath a reservoir in the city close to Hong Kong and Macao. The rescue effort involved divers, remote controlled submarines and other high-tech equipment, while workers on the surface rushed to pump out water from the tunnel. Zhuhai is a relatively wealthy coastal city at the mouth of the Pearl River delta, which is now being heavily developed for manufacturing and high-tech industries.
July 22, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration says it is making $3 billion in economic development grants available to communities – a tenfold increase in the program paid for by this year’s COVID-19 relief bill. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo tells The Associated Press her agency will begin accepting applications for the competitive grants, which officials hope will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. The goal is to help struggling cities and towns make long-term investments to drive development for years to come. The grants will be targeted at supporting local infrastructure, job training programs and developing new industries.
July 22, 2021 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republicans have rejected an effort to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators brokered with President Joe Biden. But pressure is mounting as supporters insist they just need more time before another vote, possibly next week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the procedural vote Wednesday was meant only as a first step as talks progress. But Republican senators say they need to review the final details and sought a delay until Monday. Negotiators have been meeting around the clock this week to try to reach a final agreement.
July 22, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rejecting two Republicans tapped by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. McCarthy denounced the decision Wednesday as “an egregious abuse of power” and said the GOP wouldn’t participate in the investigation if Democrats won’t accept the members he appointed. Pelosi cited the “integrity” of the probe in refusing to accept the appointments of Indiana Rep. Jim Banks or Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. The two men are outspoken allies of former President Donald Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol that day and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s win.
July 22, 2021 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Justice Department says it has decided not to open an investigation into whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for COVID-19 in a hospital. Thursday’s letter comes 11 months after the agency told the governors of Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and New York that it wanted information to determine whether orders there may have resulted in the deaths of nursing home residents. Michigan received an identical letter Thursday. The orders by the four governors were criticized for potentially fueling the spread of the virus. In Pennsylvania, it is far from clear that the policy led to an outbreak or death.
