October 7, 2020 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is said by his doctor to be making progress in his recovery from COVID-19 – and the president tweets that he’s eager to get back on the campaign trail. Even so, he spent the all day Tuesday out of sight at the White House, and the outbreak that has killed more than 210,000 Americans reached ever more widely into the upper echelons of the U.S. government. Top military leaders are now in quarantine. And top White House aide Stephen Miller tested positive, too. In a major legislative move, the White House announced that it would not longer negotiate with Congress on an economic relief package.
October 7, 2020 4:02 am
Supervisors in North Strabane Township held a special meeting to award the contract for storm sewer and sanitary sewer replacements along Oakwood Drive in the Majestic Hills Plan. This is part of the repair project that was necessitated by a landslide that claimed several homes back in 2018. Seven companies bid the project. Bids ranged from $479,620 to $980,550. The bid was awarded to J5 Construction of Eighty Four, PA for the $479,620 figure. Supervisors had estimates of between $715,000 and $855,000 the project and the township’s engineer, Gateway Engineers made extra effort to make sure the bid by J5 Construction was accurate. J5 Construction stood by their bid each time they were asked to confirm numbers. The earliest that construction could begin is late October or very early November. In other township business, preliminary budget workshops began. Township Manager Andrew Walz will work with supervisors over the course of 7 workshops to develop a preliminary budget to be presented in November. Early numbers indicate that no real estate tax increase is anticipated.
October 7, 2020 2:59 am
(AP) – Eddie Van Halen, whose innovative and explosive guitar playing kept the hard rock band that bore his family name cemented to the top of the album charts for two decades, died on Tuesday morning after a long battle with cancer, a rep confirmed to Variety. He was 65. Eddie Van Halen was dogged by personal and health issues that would intermittently interfere with his work in music over the course of the next decade. A chronic joint problem, exacerbated by his reckless onstage style, forced him to undergo hip replacement surgery in 1999. The onset of cancer – likely the result of heavy smoking – led to the surgical removal of part of his tongue in 2000. Eddie Van Halen is survived by his second wife, the band’s former publicist Janie Liszewski, whom he married in 2009, and his son.
October 7, 2020 2:48 am
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – Two people have died in a fire in northern West Virginia. The Wheeling Fire Department says the bodies of two adults were pulled from a home in Wheeling on Tuesday night. A passerby reported the fire. Firefighters battled the fire for more than an hour. The bodies have been sent to the state medical examiner and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
October 6, 2020 4:52 pm
(AP) – Pennsylvania’s chief fiscal watchdog is criticizing a state program under which businesses could seek permission to operate under Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic shutdown. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says waivers were granted inconsistently and with little transparency, comparing the process to a “Keystone Kops routine.” DePasquale spoke Tuesday at a virtual news conference. The auditor general’s office has been investigating the business shutdown waiver program amid complaints it was managed unfairly. Wolf’s spokesperson referred questions to the Department of Community and Economic Development, which ran the program. The department says its waiver decisions were based on whether the business offered “life-sustaining services.”
October 6, 2020 4:28 pm
UNDATED (AP) – The 2020 theatrical release calendar is getting even slimmer in the wake of the announcement that Regal cinemas are temporarily closing, although AMC Entertainment says it will remain open. Warner Bros. said late Monday that its sci-fi pic “Dune” will now open in October 2021, instead of this December. The studio also pushed “The Batman” to 2022 and moved up its “Matrix” sequel. That leaves a mere handful of big films set to still open in 2020. The nation’s largest theater chain, AMC, plans to remain open and cited its shortened theatrical window agreement with Universal as a reason.
October 6, 2020 3:12 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon says that top military leaders are under self-quarantine after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus. While the Pentagon didn’t identify those affected, two U.S. officials say that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, was among those affected. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information that has not been made public. The military leaders had been in contact with Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, who has tested positive. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman says none of the other officials have tested positive so far and that the quarantining of leaders won’t affect the operational readiness of the U.S. Armed Forces.
October 6, 2020 1:44 pm
District Justice Gary Havelka held all charges against Alfred Quevi for court. Quevi is charged with felony aggravated assault, attempted homicide and illegal possession of firearms. Quevi, 53 of McDonald is accused of shooting his stepson with a shotgun at point blank range. Quevi’s wife Melanie Quevi testified to the contentious relationship between her son Tyler Shrum and her husband. Mrs. Quevi testified to a string of text messages threatening her son while she was at work. Mrs. Quevi returned home after work to find her husband gone. He returned and pointed the shotgun at her before he entered. Shortly after Alfred Quevi entered the home to gather some belongings, Shrum appeared and Quevi began to shout at him with the gun pointed at him. Quevi lowered the gun causing his wife to move from between the two men. When she moved, Quevi allegedly shot Shrum. Quevi will be formally arraigned on November 24. He is being held in the Washington County Jail without bond.
October 6, 2020 4:18 am
Cecil Township Supervisors are taking steps to upgrade pathways around Cecil Township Park. Supervisors on Monday approved the purchase of 3 bridges to be installed in the park to make access easier to several areas of the park. The cost is $141,525 for the bridges and most of that will be paid with grants. Monies already earmarked for township improvements will also be used to offset installation costs. Supervisors also voted to submit a cease and desist order to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for violation of noise ordinances. Those violations are related to the construction of the Southern Beltway. Supervisors also approved a conditional use application for the Bernard Well Site on Galati Road. Range Resources will need to comply with 46 conditions approved by supervisors.
October 6, 2020 4:15 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – A strengthening Hurricane Delta was on a course to pass by the Cayman Islands early Tuesday before hitting Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a major storm and continuing on to strike the U.S. Gulf coast later in the week. As Delta shifted west Monday, Cuba withdrew a hurricane warning for its province of Pinar del Rio and replaced it with a tropical storm warning. There is also a tropical storm warning for the Cayman Islands. But the brunt of the hurricane was expected to be felt by Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, which was forecast to start seeing hurricane conditions Tuesday night with the storm reaching land early Wednesday.
