January 15, 2021 4:14 am
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Federal agents have accused an Arkansas man of beating a police officer with a pole flying a U.S. flag during last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. In an arrest affidavit filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, an FBI agent said Peter Francis Stager is shown in video and photographs striking a prone police officer repeatedly with the flagpole. That was after rioters had dragged the officer down stairs on the Capitol’s west side. Confidential informants led agents to Stager, who is charged with interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder.
January 15, 2021 4:13 am
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A prosecutor says a retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he meant “to take hostages.” Retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr. appeared at a detention hearing in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday. The 53-year-old is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A judge said he would release Brock to home confinement. Brock’s attorney says there is no evidence that he did anything violent inside the Capitol.
January 15, 2021 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI is tracking an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter,” including calls for armed protests leading up to next week’s presidential inauguration. That’s according to FBI Director Chris Wray, who participated in a law enforcement and military briefing for Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday. Wray says the FBI remains concerned about the potential for violence at protests and rallies in Washington and in state capitols around the country. But he says it’s a challenge to distinguish between what is aspirational versus what is intentional.
January 15, 2021 4:11 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden has unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan to end “a crisis of deep human suffering” by speeding up vaccines and pumping out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic’s prolonged economic fallout. Biden said Thursday that the nation faces “a crisis of deep human suffering.” He hopes his multi-pronged strategy will put the country on the path to recovery by the end of his administration’s first 100 days. The plan includes $1,400 checks for individuals, on top of $600 provided in the last COVID-19 bill. There’s also money for a mass vaccination campaign and a major expansion of local public health efforts.
January 15, 2021 4:08 am
The Canon-McMillan School District held a special voting session on Thursday night. In the brief meeting the school board voted to eliminate most part time positions and bring back employees that were furloughed when school buildings closed late last year because of Covid-19 concerns. According to Superintendent Michael Daniels, the motion will bring back district employees to a full time basis because the district is phasing in a four day a week in class student schedule. That schedule began on January 5. In an agenda setting board meeting immediately after the voting session, Assistant Superintendent Scott Chambers offered his observations of nearly two weeks of in class participation by students in grades kindergarten through four. He said all of the kids were excited to be back. They were happy to meet the kids that they have been having classes with for the first time. Chambers likened the experience to the first day of school, only in January. The district was quite pleased with the announcement from the Pennsylvania Dept of Education to recommend in class teaching for students by using the same data that the district used to make their decision and practice those guidelines for a week before the announcement from the state.
January 15, 2021 2:43 am
(WPXI) – For taxpayers who like to get an early start on filing their taxes, you have time to get your W2s and receipts in order. The IRS announced Friday that it has delayed the start of the 2020 tax filing season. The date is now set for Feb. 12 for the start of accepting and filing last year’s returns instead of the late-January traditional time frame because of the COVID-19 relief package that went into effect in December. “These changes ensure that eligible people will receive any remaining stimulus money as a recovery rebate credit when they file their return,” the IRS said.
January 15, 2021 2:39 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered the Pennsylvania Capitol closed for two days next week around the swearing-in of three statewide officials and the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. The complex is already closed to the general public because of the coronavirus pandemic. Most Capitol employees under Wolf’s jurisdiction currently work remotely. But the new order Thursday advises employees who report to work in person to take off Tuesday and Wednesday. Wolf’s Office of Administration says it isn’t aware of any specific threats at this time. The agency that protects the Pennsylvania Capitol building is adding police officers inside and out and erecting barriers.
January 14, 2021 9:43 am
A Burgettstown restaurant is among two dozen ordered to close for not following the state’s COVID-19 orders. The State Department of Agriculture made the announcement Wednesday. Rough Cut Tavern and Hotel was one of twenty-four to receive closure notices for denying the Governor’s orders. The inspections took place from January 4 through the 10th. Enforcement currently targets the 50-percent indoor capacity limit and the mandated use of masks by employees. The department says they conducted 729 inspections over a one-week period. 171 of those visits were prompted by complaints and about 130 more were deemed follow-ups for COVID-specific complaints. It was the only Washington County restaurant listed.
January 14, 2021 9:33 am
BERLIN (AP) – German news agency dpa is reporting that illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher, the surviving member of duo Siegfried & Roy has died in Las Vegas at age 81. The news agency said Thursday that Fischbacher’s sister, a nun who lives in Munich, confirmed his death of cancer. Sister Dolore told dpa that spoke with her brother on the phone before he died and they prayed together. Fischbacher’s long-time show business partner, Roy Horn, died in May of complications from COVID-19 at a Las Vegas hospital. The duo astonished millions with their extraordinary magic tricks until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers.
January 14, 2021 9:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people seeking unemployment aid soared last week to 965,000, the most since late August and evidence that the resurgent virus has caused a spike in layoffs. The latest figures for jobless claims, issued Thursday by the Labor Department, remain at levels never seen until the virus struck. Before the pandemic, weekly applications typically numbered around 225,000. Last spring, after nationwide shutdowns took effect, applications for jobless benefits spiked to nearly 7 million – 10 times the previous record high. After declining over the summer, weekly claims have been stuck above 700,000 since September.
