August 4, 2020 4:17 am
WINDSOR, N.C. (AP) – Tropical Storm Isaias is spawning tornadoes and dumping rain during an inland march up the U.S. East Coast. Two people were killed after one of those tornadoes flattened a mobile home park in Windsor, North Carolina. Officials said Tuesday afternoon that several people feared missing at the park had been located. Isaias made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. The storm surge and wind left dozens of boats piled against the docks. The National Hurricane Center is predicting heavy rain and more tornadoes as Isaias moves into New England on Tuesday evening and says flash flooding is possible along the Interstate 95 corridor.
August 4, 2020 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A report by Pennsylvania’s elections agency suggests lawmakers require counties to distribute mail-in ballots earlier for the 2020 General Election and beyond, among other recommendations. The Department of State’s review of the June 2 primary said there were relatively few problems with new voting machines. It says lawmakers should allow mail-in ballots to count if they’re postmarked by election day and show up in county offices by the following Friday. The 43-page report says counties should be allowed to begin handling ballots three weeks ahead of election day in the “pre-canvass” process. About 1.3 million people voted in the primary in person, and about 1.5 million voted by mail.
August 3, 2020 5:47 pm
BANNING, Calif. (AP) – The first big Southern California wildfire of 2020 is raging for a fourth day east of Los Angeles with thousands of people forced from their homes. The fire in Riverside County is one of several blazes crews are battling across the state amid sweltering temperatures. The Riverside fire has consumed more than 41 square miles of dry brush and timber since it broke out Friday evening. An American Red Cross official says volunteers used to close contact with evacuees have had to adjust their approach because of the coronavirus. The fire as of Monday morning was only 5 percent contained.
August 3, 2020 10:44 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Landmark New York retailer Lord & Taylor has filed for bankruptcy, joining a growing list of stores slammed by the coronavirus pandemic. Tailored Brands, the parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks, has filed for bankruptcy as well. Many of the companies that have filed for Chapter 11 in recent weeks were already struggling, but the forced closure of non-essential stores in March pushed them to the brink. Lord & Taylor, which was sold to the French rental clothing company Le Tote Inc. last year, filed Sunday for bankruptcy protection in the Eastern Court of Virginia.
August 3, 2020 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Microsoft is confirming that it is in talks with Chinese company ByteDance to acquire the U.S. arm of its popular video app TikTok and has discussed with President Donald Trump his concerns about security and censorship. The deal it seeks would result in Microsoft owning and operating the TikTok service in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The company says in a statement Sunday that it expects those acquisition talks to conclude by Sept. 15. The Trump administration has raised a broad array of national security risks it says are presented by software connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
August 3, 2020 4:20 am
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) – Coastal Carolina residents are being warned to stay out of the ocean, secure loose outside furniture and prepare for possible serious flooding as Isaias marches northward. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expected the storm to hit land later Monday as a minimal hurricane. Officials in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, handed out sandbags and offered car space in elevated garages for residents of the low-lying city. In North Carolina, officials wrapped up evacuations of Ocracoke Island, which took a beating last year from Hurricane Dorian. As of Monday afternoon, Isaias remained a tropical storm with winds of 80 mph. It was centered about 180 miles south-southwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
August 3, 2020 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – As state and local governments brace for November’s election, federal authorities are sounding the alarm about the potential for a well-timed ransomware attack that could block access to voter registration data and paralyze critical election operations. Such attacks lock data until a payment is made. They have long targeted local governments and companies, but officials view election systems as attractive targets themselves – or potentially collateral damage in an attack aimed at another part of a network. Even if a ransomware attack fails to disrupt elections, it could nonetheless rattle confidence in the vote.
August 3, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Slow, grinding negotiations on a huge COVID-19 relief bill are set to resume, but the path forward promises to be challenging. Both the Trump administration negotiating team and top Capitol Hill Democrats reported progress over the weekend even as they highlighted their differences. Ahead of Monday’s talks, all sides predict a long slog ahead despite the lapse of a $600-per-week supplemental COVID jobless benefit, the beginning of school season, and the call of lawmakers’ cherished August recess. Several more days of talks are expected, if not more.
August 3, 2020 4:14 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has again extended an order closing all bars in Monongalia County for an additional 10 days due to the coronavirus pandemic. The latest order is effective until Aug. 13. The county includes West Virginia University’s Morgantown campus. Monongalia County has reported at least 900 confirmed virus cases, by far the most in the state. More than half of the county’s active cases are in the 20 to 29 age group. Statewide, there have been at least 6,850 confirmed virus cases and 117 deaths.
August 3, 2020 4:13 am
HARLEIGH, Pa. (AP) – State police are searching for a vehicle that fled the scene after striking and killing a construction workers on Interstate 81 in northeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend. Police in Luzerne County say the sedan was heading north on the interstate in the right lane, which was closed due to active nighttime construction. Police said the vehicle struck 30-year-old Kevin Dendulk shortly before 1:30 a.m. Saturday in Hazle Township and didn’t stop, continuing to travel in the closed right lane of I-81 north. Police said a deputy county coroner pronounced the Royersford resident dead at the scene less than an hour later.
