December 13, 2020 7:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump returned to Washington for weekend rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election that he lost to Joe Biden. Sporadic fights broke out between pro-Trump and anti-Trump demonstrators after sundown Saturday. WRC-TV reported that four people were taken to a hospital with stab wounds, and the Metropolitan Police Department told the station that 23 people were arrested. The gatherings of mostly unmasked Trump loyalists were intended as a show of force just two days before the Electoral College meets to formally elect Biden as the 46th president. Trump, whose term will end Jan. 20, refuses to concede, while clinging to baseless claims of fraud that have been rejected by state and federal courts, and Friday by the Supreme Court. Trump tweeted his apparent surprise Saturday morning at the rallies, publicly known for weeks: “Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn’t know about this, but I’ll be seeing them! #MAGA”
December 13, 2020 7:46 am
The first trucks carrying a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States were set to pull out of a Michigan manufacturing plant Sunday, with the shots that are critical to stopping the nation’s coronavirus outbreak destined to reach states a day later. An assembly line of workers began in the early morning hours pulling doses out of a freezer, boxing the vaccine and loading the units onto pallets so they could be placed on trucks at a Pfizer plant in Michigan. Dry ice, shipping labels and packing tape were on hand as the workers — donning masks, face shields and gloves — put together the packages inside the warehouse. One forklift driver transported the boxes to a loading area where a second forklift driver transferred the pallets from inside the facility onto a semitruck. Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened 71 million worldwide. Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be sent out, and the priority is health care workers and nursing home residents as infections, hospitalizations and deaths soar in the U.S. With numbers likely to get worse over the holidays, the vaccine is offering a bright spot in the fight against the pandemic that’s killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
December 13, 2020 4:12 am
The man who was killed following a pedestrian accident Wednesday night in Amwell Township has been identified. The Washington County Coroner’s Office says Marquis Anthony Drew, 29, of South Bend, Indiana was hit just before 8 p.m. near 773 National Pike. The victim was struck by a vehicle traveling west. The Washington County District Attorney’s Office has announced that an on-duty County detective was involved in the accident and that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has been notified and will investigate. A cause and manner of death are also pending an autopsy and investigation. Ambulance and Chair Service, Amwell Township, Lone Pine, and South Strabane Fire Departments as well as the South Strabane Police and County Sheriffs Office all responded to the scene. State Police continue to investigate.
December 13, 2020 2:50 am
Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday, announced a new round of statewide restrictions to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania. They went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning and will remain until 8 a.m. on January 4th, 2021. They are as follows:
All in-person indoor dining at businesses in the retail food services industry, including, but not limited to, bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, social clubs, and private catered events is prohibited. Outdoor dining, take-out food service, and take-out alcohol sales are permitted and may continue, subject to any limitations or restrictions imposed by Pennsylvania law. Indoor gatherings and events of more than 10 persons are prohibited. Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and other places of congregate worship are specifically excluded from the limitations during religious services, but these institutions are strongly encouraged to find alternative methods for worship, as in person gatherings pose a significant risk to participants at this time. Outdoor gatherings and events of more than 50 persons are prohibited. All in-person businesses serving the public may only operate at up to 50% of the maximum capacity stated on the applicable certificate of occupancy, except as limited by existing orders to a smaller capacity limit. Indoor operations at gyms and fitness facilities are prohibited. Outdoor facilities and outdoor classes can continue, but all participants must wear face coverings. All in-person businesses in the entertainment industry serving the public within a building or indoor defined area, including, but not limited to, theaters, concert venues, museums, movie theaters, arcades, casinos, bowling alleys, private clubs, and all other similar entertainment, recreational or social facilities, are prohibited from operation. In-person voluntary activities at schools are prohibited. All sports at K-12 public schools, nonpublic schools, private schools and club, travel and recreational activities are paused. Professional or collegiate sports activities may continue in accordance with guidance from the CDC and the Department of Health, but without spectators.
December 13, 2020 1:51 am
Longtime WJPA News Director Jim Jefferson died Friday morning following a brief battle with cancer. He was 68 years old. For more than 35 years, Jim was the steady voice bridging our listeners and community leaders, elected officials and the news of the day. A Point Park College graduate, Jefferson joined the staff at WJPA in the early ’70s, retiring 3 1/2 years ago with his wife, Debbie, to their farm in Scenery Hill.
Jefferson was remembered today by many he covered over the years–mayors, commissioners, judges, chiefs of police, co-workers and friends:
Former Washington Mayor Sonny Spossey– “Like many, I awakened to Jim delivering the news. He was a straight shooter.”
Washington County Commission Chair Diana Irey Vaughan– “Jim was the best in the what the media had to offer.”
Commissioner Larry Maggi– “Jim was the consummate professional from the start. You trusted him.”
Retired President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca– “Jim was a straight arrow, the epitome of a newsman. He delivered the news fairly and never editorialized.”
Retired South Strabane Police Chief Don Zofchak– “It’s a fine line for law enforcement and the media. And we always had a great relationship in that way. It’s a great loss.”
Longtime Meadows track announcer Roger Huston– “He had that uncanny ability to make you feel comfortable when he interviewed you, like he’d known you his whole life.”
Washington Wild Things Vice President Chris Blaine– “I never saw Jim upset or in a bad mood. He was personable, pleasant, easy to work with in every situation.”
Funeral services will be private. (Photo: courtesy of Observer-Reporter)
December 13, 2020 1:48 am
Due to a new round of restrictions placed on businesses in response to the continued rise of COVID-19 cases the City of Washington is deferring payment of certain business taxes as a means of helping businesses within the city weather the potential loss of revenue. “We’re deferring the deadlines for payment of mercantile and business privilege taxes in the hope that our city businesses can use that extra time to gain back some of the potential loss in revenue because of these restrictions” said city Councilman Joe Manning the city’s finance director. “The state isn’t going to act and the federal government certainly isn’t going to act so we as the local taxing body need to do what we can to help businesses that are struggling right now” Manning said. For businesses in the city of Washington mercantile tax is due on January 31st and that date will be moved to March 31st, and business privilege which is due in April will be moved to July. Manning said that this may be just the first of a multi-pronged program to help businesses until the pandemic is over and added that he hopes these actions inspire surrounding municipalities to take similar actions. “We’re all in this together can’t be just a slogan” Manning said. “These businesses are our neighbors and the backbone of our communities we need to work together to help them survive”.
December 12, 2020 4:31 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Press groups are demanding authorities in Mexico investigate the killing of a news photographer who was shot to death, reportedly after taking photos of dead bodies. The Committee to Protect Journalists says photojournalist Jaime Castaño was shot to death Wednesday in the northern state of Zacatecas. The CPJ said Friday that authorities should “swiftly and credibly investigate the murder.” The CPJ lists Mexico as the deadliest country in the world for journalists in 2020. The Inter American Press Association says that prior to Castaño’s death, 10 media workers had been killed in Mexico so far this year.
December 12, 2020 4:31 am
Some Americans are now falling sick with COVID-19 after celebrating Thanksgiving with people outside their households. Health officials are warning people not to make the same mistake during this month’s celebrations. The coronavirus was already raging across the nation before Thanksgiving. It has picked up steam since, with new cases regularly climbing past 200,000 a day. Contact tracers and emergency room doctors are hearing repeatedly from new coronavirus patients that they socialized during Thanksgiving. The next round of festivities could yield even more cases. It comes as the Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave the final go-ahead to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine.
December 12, 2020 4:30 am
ROME (AP) – Italy could soon reclaim a record that nobody wants – the most coronavirus deaths in Europe – and is still trying to figure out how to protect its vulnerable elderly. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Italy, the first country in the West slammed by COVID-19, saw its death toll spike in the spring amid public health shortfalls and lockdown restrictions that came too late. Yet it had the benefit of time and experience heading into the fall outbreak, trailing Spain, France and Germany in recording big new infection clusters. Still, Italy failed to keep the virus under control, adding more than 27,000 dead since Sept. 1. It now has over 62,600 virus-related deaths, a few hundred less than Britain.
December 12, 2020 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Four large veterans groups are calling for the immediate dismissal of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie following a scathing report he had acted unprofessionally if not unethically in the handling of a congressional aide’s allegation of sexual assault at a VA hospital. Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans and AMVETS say Wilkie breached the trust of veterans and they no longer have confidence he can effectively lead the department. VFW’s B.J. Lawrence says: “Trust is lost and our veterans cannot wait until Jan. 20, 2021, for a leadership change. Secretary Wilkie must resign now.”
