April 2, 2021 2:11 am
Washington City Council met Thursday afternoon and one of the biggest items on the agenda was the initial step to extend the Local Tax Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act commonly known as LERTA. This provision allows city residents who make improvements to their property to receive a graduated abatement on those improvements for three years. Councilman Joe Manning says it is a great program and application can be made for the program when a building permit application is made. Council will formally approve the extension at its next meeting. Council also approved a matching payment to the Dreamers Company for $10,000 to make improvements to the Seventh Ward Playground. The Kaboom Project will bring updated playground equipment and landscaping. According to Manning who has viewed artists renderings of the project, any type of playground equipment will be there. City Hall will be closed April 2 for Good Friday. The next council meeting will be May 6 at 1:00 PM via Zoom.
April 1, 2021 6:45 am
ORANGE, Calif. (AP) – The gunman who killed four people and critically wounded a fifth at a Southern California office building knew all the victims personally or through business dealings. Police said Thursday that apparently before opening fire the suspect chained shut the gates to two entrances, delaying police from getting inside. Among the victims of the shooting Wednesday afternoon in the city of Orange was a 9-year-old boy who was found cradled in the arms of a woman believed to be his mother. The woman was the only survivor among those shot. The others killed were a man and two women. No identities were released. The suspect was identified as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez of nearby Fullerton. He was critically wounded.
April 1, 2021 4:10 am
MISSION, Texas (AP) – Overwhelmed and underprepared, U.S. authorities are releasing migrant families on the Mexican border without notices to appear in immigration court or sometimes without any paperwork at all. U.S. immigration authorities say court notices often take hours to prepare and describes the move as a way to save time. The rapid releases ease pressure on the Border Patrol and its badly overcrowded holding facilities but shift work to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement, which enforces immigration laws within the United States. When they get paperwork, migrants are now being told to report to ICE within 60 days.
April 1, 2021 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden’s first Cabinet meeting of his presidency will be used to promote his new infrastructure plan. The coronavirus pandemic is giving Thursday’s gathering a very different look from Cabinet meetings held by Biden’s predecessors. Cabinet officials won’t meet in the room that bears its name. Instead, the meeting will take place in the more spacious East Room to allow for social distancing. All attendees, including the president, will wear masks. And the afternoon gathering probably won’t include the over-the-top tributes to the chief executive that came to define the Cabinet meetings held by President Donald Trump.
April 1, 2021 4:08 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas Republicans are setting out to begin passing sweeping new voting restrictions in America’s biggest red state. A bill the state Senate was debating early Thursday morning included reduced options to cast ballots, limits on polling hours and more power to partisan poll watchers. It comes after an elections overhaul was signed into law last week in Georgia, where opponents have already filed lawsuits and are calling for boycotts of corporations that are silent on restrictive voting measures. A vote was expected late Wednesday. A similar measure in the House chamber could advance toward a full vote as soon as Thursday.
April 1, 2021 4:07 am
The company at the center of quality problems that led Johnson & Johnson to discard a batch of its coronavirus vaccine has a string of citations from U.S. health officials for quality control problems. The little-known pharmaceutical company, Emergent BioSolutons, was a key to Johnson & Johnson’s plan to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine to the U.S. by the end of May. But records obtained by The Associated Press show it has been cited repeatedly by the Food and Drug Administration for problems ranging from poorly trained employees to cracked vials and mold around one of its facilities.
April 1, 2021 4:01 am
HONOLULU (AP) – Police say a tourist from Pittsburgh has been charged with manslaughter after a deadly fight at a Hawaii vacation rental. Big Island police say a second tourist from Boston who had been arrested was released with no charges filed. Police were called to the Kailua-Kona vacation rental earlier this week when a 30-year-old man wasn’t breathing. Benjamin Fleming of Pittsburgh and Alexander Germany-Wald of Boston were arrested. Fleming was later charged while Germany-Wald was released. Fleming’s defense attorney asked to postpone his preliminary hearing and noted his client has no criminal history. A man who answered at a number for Alexander Germany-Wald declined to comment.
April 1, 2021 2:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – President Joe Biden wants $2 trillion to reengineer America’s infrastructure and expects the nation’s corporations to pay for it. The Democratic president traveled to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to unveil what will be a hard-hatted transformation of the U.S. economy. It includes $621 billion for roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure. The plan would also move the country away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy. It would be financed by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, among other measures. That could lead to fierce resistance from the business community and thwart attempts to work with Republican lawmakers.
April 1, 2021 2:43 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says every adult in Pennsylvania will qualify for COVID-19 vaccines starting April 19. Emergency responders, grocery workers and others will be able to set up shots immediately. Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said Wednesday the new timeline is possible because the state’s rate of vaccinations has quickened. Starting Wednesday, vaccine appointments are being expanded to include police, corrections officers and other law enforcement; volunteer and professional firefighters; grocery employees; and food and farm workers. Next will be Phase 1C starting April 12. That group includes workers in transportation and logistics, water and wastewater, communications and media, public health, legal services, finance and construction.
March 31, 2021 8:53 am
Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12. The announcement Wednesday marks a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before the next school year. Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older. But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic. In a study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15, preliminary data showed there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among those given dummy shots.
