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.
August 29, 2021 7:58 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday. The delivery — due to arrive Monday — is the company’s 23rd for NASA in just under a decade. A recycled Falcon rocket blasted into the predawn sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. After hoisting the Dragon capsule, the first-stage booster landed upright on SpaceX’s newest ocean platform, named “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” SpaceX founder Elon Musk continued his tradition of naming the booster-recovery vessels in tribute to the late science fiction writer Iain Banks and his Culture series.
August 29, 2021 7:57 am
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters faced a critical day in efforts to prevent a massive California wildfire from reaching the Lake Tahoe resort region Saturday, hoping to take advantage of calmer winds before hot, heavy gusts return. The Caldor Fire churned through mountains just southwest of the Tahoe Basin, cloaking much of the area in toxic smoke and sending tourists packing at a time when summer vacations would be in full swing ahead of the Labor Day weekend. A favorable turn in the weather Saturday afternoon allowed firefighters to make progress and increase containment of the Caldor Fire to 19%, up from 12% the day before, said Capt. Stephen Horner, a Cal Fire spokesman for the Caldor Fire. The fire so far has burned about 149,000 acres, or 233 square miles (603 square kilometers). The fire’s eastern edge was about 7 or 8 miles (11 or 13 kilometers) from the city of South Lake Tahoe and did not advance much overnight thanks to operations known as “backfiring,” where firefighters get ahead of the blaze and burn up fuel so the fire has nothing to ignite.
