August 8, 2020 7:17 am
(AP) – Government employees responsible for making sure airplanes are safe say they face pressure from companies not to raise too many safety concerns. And the say their own bosses don’t back them up often enough. That’s according to a survey of Federal Aviation Administration employees that was delivered to Congress on Friday. Congress is investigating the FAA over the agency’s oversight of Boeing and its approval of the company’s Max jetliner, which is grounded after two of them crashed, killing 346 people. A key lawmaker says the report is disturbing and shows senior FAA officials rolling over for Boeing.
August 8, 2020 5:19 am
Election Day is still months away and there is already voter confusion thanks to mass mailings showing up in mailboxes, encouraging residents to request a mail-in ballot for the upcoming election. The mailings are hitting mailboxes in Washington County and Washington County Commission Chairperson Diana Irey-Vaughan says they were not sent out at the behest of the board of commissioners. The mailings are from the Center for Voter Information and not the state board of elections or the county elections office. Irey-Vaughan says many county residents have reached out to her saying they didn’t request the forms and want to know why they’re getting them. Washington County elections officials say the forms are valid and if sent back to their office they will receive a mail-in ballot, if all of the personal information is verified as correct. Some residents have reportedly received applications for individuals who are deceased or are no longer living at that address and are concerned about the possibility of voter fraud. County elections officials though say there is no need for concern. They say each application is verified through several avenues, including a driver’s license and personal signature.
August 8, 2020 4:40 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – At least 17 people have died and 123 are injured when a special return flight for Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus skidded off a hilltop runway and cracked in two while landing in heavy rain in the southern state of Kerala. The dead include both pilots, and at least 15 of the injured are in critical condition. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Ministry says no fire was reported on the Boeing 737 aircraft after it landed and broke into pieces. It was a repatriation flight carrying Indians back home. Regular commercial flights have been halted in India because of the coronavirus outbreak.
August 8, 2020 4:38 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – More protests are expected in Portland, Oregon, throughout the weekend following violent demonstrations this week as unrest in the Northwest city continues. Since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis protests have occurred nightly for 70 days. Early Friday morning about 200 people, some wielding homemade shields, clashed with police early for the third consecutive night as two other Black Lives Matter rallies proceeded peacefully elsewhere. Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said this week the violent protesters are also serving as political “props” for President Donald Trump’s reelection. Trump has tried to portray the protesters as “sick and dangerous anarchists” running wild in the city’s streets.
August 8, 2020 4:36 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. intelligence officials believe that Russia is using a variety of measures to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the November election and that individuals linked to the Kremlin are boosting President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. That’s according to a rare public statement Friday from the country’s counterintelligence chief, William Evanina. The statement also says that U.S. officials assess that China prefers that Trump not win a second term and that Beijing has accelerated its criticism of the president and its efforts to shape American opinion and public policy.
August 8, 2020 4:31 am
(AP) – Reports of suicidal or self-harming thoughts made to Pennsylvania’s mandatory harm reporting system for schools increased after classrooms were shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office released an annual report showing tips to the Safe2Say Something program had dropped since the pandemic sent students home for remote learning, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Friday. But an increased portion of the calls, online tips and other reports that did come in were for issues of suicidal thoughts or self-harm, data from the system showed.
August 8, 2020 4:28 am
(AP) – A federal lawsuit is seeking to force Pennsylvania election officials to change the way that voters’ signatures on mail-in ballots are verified. The suit, filed Friday, asserts that tens of thousands of voters are at risk of being disenfranchised in the fall presidential election. The suit was filed by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh and two individual voters. It seeks to force election officials to give voters the chance to fix ballots that are either missing signatures, or where there’s a perceived signature mismatch. The Wolf administration declined to comment on the suit.
August 7, 2020 4:54 pm
UNDATED (AP) – Thousands of bikers poured into the small South Dakota town of Sturgis as the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally rumbles to life despite fears it could lead to a massive coronavirus outbreak. The bike rally is set to become the largest gathering of people since the pandemic began. Event organizers are expecting 250,000 people from all over the country to make their way through Sturgis during the 10-day rally. Local residents – and a few bikers – worried it could create a “super-spreader” event. But many who rode their bikes into town expressed defiance of the uncomfortable regulations that have marked life during a pandemic.
August 7, 2020 2:52 pm
The group in charge of high school sports met Friday in an emergency session after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said school and youth sports should be postponed until Jan. 1 because of COVID-19. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors has started to reevaluate the plans it had in place, but in a statement Friday afternoon said, it believes delaying sports will have a “potential negative impact on the students’ physical, social, emotional and mental health.” In response to Wolf’s announcement on Thursday, the PIAA said: “We are tremendously disappointed in this decision. Our member schools have worked diligently to develop health and safety plans to allow students the safe return to interscholastic athletics.” The PIAA made a motion during its Friday meeting to postpone all fall sports for two weeks. Board members say they will reconvene on August 21st, but between now and then, voluntary workouts, per the Governor’s guidance for all sports, and with local approval, may continue.
August 7, 2020 10:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States added 1.8 million jobs in July, a pullback from the gains of May and June and evidence that the resurgent coronavirus is stalling hiring and slowing an economic rebound. With confirmed viral cases still elevated in much of the nation and businesses under continued pressure, many employers appear reluctant or unable to hire. Even counting the hiring of the past three months, the economy has now recovered only about 42% of the 22 million jobs it lost to the pandemic-induced recession, according to the Labor Department’s jobs report released Friday.
