September 8, 2020 9:49 am
Students in the Washington School District began classes for the 2020-2021 school year on Tuesday. Superintendent Dr. James Konrad said it feels great to have students back in the building. Classes begin at 8:20 every day and students lined up early on Tuesday waiting to get back to school. Before doors opened, building administrators and school police lined students up six feet apart and making sure masks were on before they entered the building. Konrad states that about one third of students are making use of the district’s cyber option. Konrad is asking for everyone’s patience as teachers and students become acclimated to the new learning platform. Konrad is looking at the different type of year that this year is as an opportunity to work with parents and the community to make sure students get the quality education that Washington School District offers. Students in the Trinity School District also began their school year on Tuesday.
September 8, 2020 9:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats will investigate whether Postmaster General Louis DeJoy encouraged employees at his business to contribute to Republican candidates and then reimbursed them in the guise of bonuses, a violation of campaign finance laws. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, House Oversight Committee chair, announced the investigation Tuesday. The Washington Post reports that five people who worked for DeJoy’s former business were urged to write checks and attend fundraisers at his North Carolina mansion. Two former employees said DeJoy would give bigger bonuses to reimburse them. It’s not illegal to encourage employees to contribute to candidates but it is illegal to reimburse them as a way of avoiding federal campaign contribution limits.
September 8, 2020 4:57 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – In-person classes will be canceled at West Virginia University’s Morgantown campus on Tuesday, with nearly all undergraduate classes moving online on Wednesday. According to a school news release, graduate and professional courses will continue to be offered in person. The changes apply to the Morgantown campus only. They come in response to a recent increase in positive cases among students and a concern that cases may increase even more following reports of parties over the holiday weekend. áWVU placed 29 students on interim suspension on Sunday amid ongoing COVID-19 investigations. Additional sanctions are pending. If the public health situation improves, in-person classes will return on Monday, Sept. 28.
September 8, 2020 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A vaccine to shield Americans from becoming infected with the coronavirus is emerging as the latest flashpoint in the race for the White House. President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of “disparaging” a vaccine he repeatedly has said could be available by the end of October. Trump leveled the accusation a day after Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential running mate, said she would trust public health experts and scientists over Trump. Trump is aiming to have 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine in stock by January under a program he calls “Operation Warp Speed” that is working to accelerate development.
September 8, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says Pentagon leaders want to keep waging wars in order to keep defense contractors “happy.” Trump continues to fight allegations that he made offensive comments about fallen U.S. service-members. At a White House news conference Monday, Trump repeated his claim that the story was a “hoax” and said: “I’m not saying the military’s in love with me. The soldiers are.” However, he added, “The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”
September 8, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill from Washington as Congress returns to session. Talks between top Democrats and the Trump administration broke off last month and remain off track. Recent conversations among the key players have led to nothing. And toxic relationships among those players are making it harder to break the impasse. The legislation was supposed to deliver another round of $1,200 direct payments to most Americans, help schools and local governments and restore more generous unemployment benefits. Now all of that is at risk. If talks continue to falter, it’s possible that lawmakers will simply leave Washington to campaign.
September 8, 2020 4:14 am
SHAVER LAKE, Calif. (AP) – California’s largest utility shut off power to 172,000 customers to guard against its power lines and other equipment sparking wildfires. High winds are forecast for the next two days, and fire danger is high throughout wildfire-ravaged California. Pacific Gas & Electric said the outages started at 9 p.m. Monday and affect 22 counties in Central and Northern California. The utility hopes to return power by Wednesday night. The move came at the end of a scorching Labor Day weekend that saw several major wildfires break out in different areas of California. Earlier Monday, the U.S. Forest Service closed national forests in the southern half of California and added restrictions at others because of dangerous fire conditions.
September 8, 2020 4:13 am
ATLANTA (AP) – An Associated Press analysis of absentee ballot rejections found the number of ballots that could go uncounted this year in some key battleground states could be up to three times higher than during the last presidential election four years ago. The rejections could be even more pronounced in some urban areas where Democratic votes are concentrated and rejections trended higher during this year’s primaries. Ballots typically go uncounted because they arrive at local election offices too late, voters forgot to sign them or signatures did not match the one on file. The number of ballots rejected could prove pivotal in close races.
September 8, 2020 4:09 am
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Pro-Trump supporters and counter-protesters have clashed at Oregon’s Capitol. On Monday, the right-wing crowd rushed a smaller group of Black Lives Matters counter-demonstrators, firing paint-gun pellets at them. There were skirmishes, and the Black Lives Matter group dispersed shortly after local police arrived on the scene. Earlier Monday, hundreds of people gathered in a small town south of Portland for a pro-Trump vehicle rally. Oregon Public Broadcasting report vehicles waving flags for Trump, the QAnon conspiracy theory and in support of police gathered at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City. The rally’s organizers say they did not plan to enter Multnomah County, where Portland is located. Oregon City is about 20 miles south of Portland.
September 8, 2020 4:08 am
FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – State police are investigating after a body was found at a park in Fayette County on Monday. According to Fayette County 911, the body was found in Patsy Hillman Park. Emergency crews were called around 10:15 a.m. after someone reported finding the person dead. It’s not clear at this point if it was a man or woman, or how the person died. We have reached out to state police for more information. We’ll update this story once we learn more.
