April 2, 2021 4:41 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal prosecutors are examining whether Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and a political ally who is facing sex trafficking allegations may have paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly. The political ally, Joel Greenberg, served as a tax collector in Florida. He was indicted on federal charges including sex trafficking of a minor and stalking a political opponent. He has pleaded not guilty. The people say the scrutiny of Gaetz stemmed from the Justice Department’s probe into Greenberg. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
April 2, 2021 2:51 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – A Capitol Police officer has been killed after a man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife. The suspect died at a hospital. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman did not identify the slain officer or suspect on Friday afternoon. Authorities said the attack did not appear to be related to terrorism. The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol as Congress is on recess. It comes as the Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of armed insurrectionists stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win.
April 2, 2021 12:39 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can enjoy again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance Friday to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting a COVID-19 test or going into quarantine. The agency previously cautioned against unnecessary travel even for vaccinated people. The agency says vaccinated people should still wear a mask and socially distance when traveling. For international travel, vaccinated people should still get a COVID-19 test before flying to the U.S. and be tested soon after returning. Unvaccinated people are still advised to avoid unnecessary travel.
April 2, 2021 8:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – America’s employers unleashed a burst of hiring in March, adding 916,000 jobs in a sign that a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession is taking hold as vaccinations accelerate, stimulus checks flow through the economy and businesses increasingly reopen. The March increase – the most since August – was nearly double February’s gain of 468,000, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate declined from 6.2% to 6%.
April 2, 2021 4:18 am
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial. The agency said late Thursday it approved new vials from Moderna that can contain up to 15 doses each, compared with the original vials designed to hold 10 doses. Additionally, regulators said providers can safely extract up to 11 doses from the original 10-dose vials. Those changes will be added to instructions for health care workers. The dosing updates should help bolster U.S. supplies and speed vaccinations as the U.S. nears 100 million inoculations against COVID-19.
April 2, 2021 4:16 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – George Floyd’s girlfriend has tearfully told a jury the story of how they met — at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard with “this great, deep Southern voice, raspy” — and how they both struggled mightily with an addiction to opioids. Forty-five-year-old Courteney Ross took the stand Thursday on Day Four of former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in Minneapolis. The white former officer is accused of killing Floyd by pinning his knee on the Black man’s neck last May in a case that triggered massive protests and scattered violence around the U.S. and soul-searching over racial inequality. The defense contends it was Floyd’s drug use and underlying health conditions that led to his death.
April 2, 2021 4:15 am
ORANGE, Calif. (AP) – Police say a shooting at a Southern California office building that killed 4 people wasn’t a random act of violence. Police Lt. Jennifer Amat says the gunman who opened fire Wednesday at an office building in Orange knew all the victims, either personally or through business. However, a specific motive for the attack is unclear. The dead include a 9-year-old boy. Authorities say the attacker had a semiautomatic handgun, pepper spray, ammunition and handcuffs. His target was a mobile home real estate business. Police say he was wounded either by police or self-inflicted gunfire and is in critical but stable condition. The suspect was identified as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez of nearby Fullerton. He was critically wounded.
April 2, 2021 4:13 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down. Many religious sites are open to limited numbers of faithful but there will be none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter. Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, a stark departure from past years, when tens of thousands of pilgrims would descend on the city’s holy sites. This year, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead, is open to visitors but only expecting a few dozen.
April 2, 2021 4:12 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – A passenger train smashed into a vehicle on its tracks and partially derailed outside a rail tunnel in Taiwan, killing at least 36 people. Dozens were injured and railway officials said rescuers were searching for several still trapped. Survivors climbed out windows and onto roofs to reach safety in Taiwan’s deadliest railway disaster. The crash occurred early on a public weekend, and Taiwan’s extensive rail system is popular with people avoiding treacherous mountainous roads. Taiwan’s president said emergency services were fully mobilized to help. An official said the truck slid onto the track from a work site on the hillside above. Taiwan’s premier said checks of other rail lines would be required.
April 2, 2021 4:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The group that oversees maintenance and construction in the Pennsylvania Capitol is authorizing a nearly $1.5 million contract to renovate the governor’s suite. The Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday for an overhaul of the 10-room suite. It’s expected to be finished by year’s end. The work will include painting, marble cleaning, flooring, as well as removal of a wall to return the area to conditions when it was built in 1906. New heating and air conditioning is being installed separately. It’s the last part of the Capitol that hasn’t been extensively renovated in recent decades.
