August 18, 2020 4:19 pm
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – This year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew over 460,000 vehicles during the 10-day event, according to a count released by South Dakota transportation officials. The count is a decrease of nearly 8% from last year, but showed that many were undeterred by the coronavirus pandemic. Sturgis officials said they expected fewer people to show up this year, estimating they would see between 250,000 and 300,000 people. Most people didn’t take significant precautions against COVID-19 infections at this year’s rally. A few people wore masks and some said they were avoiding crowds, but many others packed close together at bars and rock shows.
August 18, 2020 3:25 pm
(AP) – A group of 29 female current and former attorneys general have backed former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House on the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The group of all Democrats includes current and former attorneys general from 24 states and U.S. territories. They acknowledged the history made by Harris’ nomination and cited their experience working with Harris during her six-year tenure as California Attorney General. Among them are New York Attorney General Letitia James, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
August 18, 2020 3:12 pm
SEATTLE (AP) – The attorneys general of Washington and Pennsylvania say they are leading states that art suing to block service changes at the U.S. Postal Service. They made the announcement Tuesday as the U.S. postmaster general announced the reversal of some postal service changes amid a national outcry. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro are both Democrats. In filing the lawsuit, they cited policy changes that included limiting worker overtime and late or extra shifts. They say the postmaster general ignored rules requiring the postal service to follow procedures before making changes that affect national service.
August 18, 2020 5:38 am
CHEAT LAKE, W.Va. — An explosion on board a boat being operated on Cheat Lake Sunday has caused seven injuries, with two people needing to be flown to the burn treatment center in Pittsburgh. According to Lawrence Messina, an officials with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the boat operated by Yuan C. Xiao, 50, of Washington, Pa., had recently refueled at the Edgewater Marina when Xiao attempted to start the engine, at which point an explosion occurred. The other occupants of the boat, Chen Wu, 47; Xiao Xiao, 25; Nancy Xiao, 18; Tiffany Xiao, 17; Tristan Xiao, 12; all of Washington, Pa., and Angela Wu, 16; and Evan Wu, 5; both of Morgantown, were present during the explosion, according to Division of Natural Resources officials.
Of the eight occupants on the boat, seven were injured and taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital for treatment; two of the injured needed to be flown from Ruby Memorial to the burn center at West Penn Hospital, Messina said.
August 18, 2020 4:18 am
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) – President Donald Trump is zeroing in on Midwest battleground states with a law and order message to counter former Vice President Joe Biden’s show at the Democratic convention. On Monday, Trump visited Minnesota and then Wisconsin, the official host state for the entirely virtual Democratic National Convention. The GOP has a week of travel and political events aimed at blunting the customary polling bounce that candidates get during their convention. In Mankato, Minnesota, Trump called Biden a “puppet of left-wing extremists.” In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the president declared that the coronavirus outbreak makes another victory in Wisconsin more difficult but claims “we handled it.”
August 18, 2020 4:15 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – California’s power grid operators are keeping a wary eye on the thermometer as a heat wave continues to stress the electrical system. The state avoided a third day of rolling blackouts on Monday. The California Independent System Operator had expected to make utilities start rotating blackouts to as many as 3.3 million homes and businesses. But the grid operator didn’t push the emergency button, saying slightly lower temperatures and customer conservation eased the load. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom is demanding an investigation into two smaller blackouts on Friday and Saturday. Temperatures are expected to hit triple digits again in many areas.
August 18, 2020 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Michelle Obama didn’t mince words about President Donald Trump in her speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying, “If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me they can; and they will.” The former first lady issued a blunt and emotional appeal that capped the first night of the convention Monday. Mrs. Obama declared President Donald Trump to be “in over his head” and the “wrong president for our country.” She says, “Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership, or consolation, or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy.”
August 18, 2020 4:11 am
South Korean health officials say they have found 457 coronavirus cases linked to a huge Seoul church led by a bitter critic of the country’s president, driving an alarming surge of infections in the greater capital area. Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Korea’s National Health Institute, said outbreaks at the Sarang Jeil Church and elsewhere have pushed the country into the biggest crisis yet since the emergence of COVID-19. He said a failure to slow transmissions in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, home to nearly 26 million people, could create a situation comparable to the “miserable scenes of the United States or European countries.”
August 18, 2020 4:09 am
The group that oversees Pennsylvania school sports is signaling again that it’s seriously considering moving ahead with the fall season despite the governor’s recommendation that schools bail on athletics until 2021. Melissa Mertz is associate executive director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. She said Monday in a radio interview that the group feels “fairly comfortable” it can hold sporting events safely. The group’s board plans to make a final decision on fall sports when it meets Friday. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says youth sports increase the risk of spreading the virus and should be canceled for now.
August 18, 2020 4:01 am
Peters Township School Board members held to their schedule of opening schools on August 24. At their meeting on Monday night no mention of changing dates or even backing off of their full 5 day attendance schedule for students was made. Board members were updated on how their learning platform Canvas will work with students choosing a remote option for school and how teachers will be handling the additional duties of remote instruction. The program is interactive and teachers will be able to teach students in a live scenario. Superintendent Dr. Jeannine French indicated that a synchronous model is preferred by many parents because it will force students to get up each day and treat the remote learning vehicle as an actual school day. All live teaching will fall within the school day. The new facemask mandate issued by the Departments of Health and Education were no worry to the board. According to French, Peters Township was ahead of the curve and had that mandate in place before the commonwealth. Certain types of facemasks will not be allowed. According to new scientific research, masks with valves and gaiters have shown to be less effective face coverings for the prevention of Covid-19. The board will update its facemask policy by eliminating gaiters and masks with valves before the beginning of school. Those updates will come out on Tuesday.
