July 28, 2020 4:03 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University has pushed back the start of its fall semester by a week and is switching some courses to online instruction due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. University President Gordon Gee says the move is aimed at reducing the overall amount of people on the Morgantown campus. He says most upper-division undergraduate courses will transition to online or a combination of online and face-to-face instruction. The move-in dates for residence halls will now occur from Aug. 15 to 22 with the start of classes set for Aug. 26th.
July 28, 2020 4:01 am
Judge Gary Gilman sentenced two men on felony charges Tuesday morning. Michael Lowe, 29 of Burgettstown was sentenced to two consecutive 1 ½ to 5 year jail terms on felony counts of burglary. This, after initially facing more than 160 different charges stemming from a crime spree in the Burgettstown, Smith and Hanover Township area. Lowe was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $66,000 to roughly a dozen victims. Lowe will make application to the state’s Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program, allowing him to reduce his jail term based on good behavior during his sentence. Secondly, Thomas McCort was sentenced on one felony count of possession of child pornography. The 68 year old South Strabane Township man was found to have had more than 1000 images of child pornography on a laptop when police seized that computer back in October of 2019. McCort will serve two years of probation and will have to perform 100 hours of community service in the first year of his sentence. He will not be allowed contact with minors without adult supervision and he will be able to possess a computer as long as the Adult Probation Office has unfettered access to it.
July 28, 2020 3:57 am
Peters Township Council delivered on a decades long desire for many residents as they approved a measure to award a contract for the development of an aquatic center at the new Rolling Hills Park. The decision came down to a split vote 4-3 with council members Monica Merrell, Gary Stiegel and Frank Arcuri dissenting on the vote. Merrell felt that even though it has merit, now is not the appropriate time to consider this amenity and funds could be better spent on other infrastructure. Councilman James Berquist countered by indicating that the cost to borrow money could not be any better and based on that, now is the time to act. Council authorized Township Manager Paul Lauer to begin communications with the Kimmel Borgrette Engineering Development firm. Council also held a public hearing to update its sign ordinance. The purpose of the update is to make sure the township is in compliance with Supreme Court rulings with regards to content regulation. Council also is seeking a solution to the abundance of temporary signs that have become permanent in the Route 19 corridor. Some signs have been in place for so long that the paint has faded and they are now difficult to read. Council also welcomed back their colleague James Berquist after his battle with Covid-19. Berquist said his symptoms were not as severe as some, but the disease is certainly not something to be taken lightly.
July 28, 2020 3:54 am
The Beth-Center School District was unable to conduct their regular monthly meeting Monday night due to the cap on participants allowed to join the basic version of “Zoom” online meetings. Before the meeting was called to order, the maximum of 100 participants was met. At that point, Solicitor Jim Davis suggested that the board proceed with the meeting next week so that all community members could have the opportunity to participate. However, Superintendent Chris Sefcheck, was permitted to reveal their preliminary re-opening framework. He says the district will proceed with a Hybrid model due to their inability to socially distance all students. Students will be grouped into “Blue” or “Gold” groups and attend two days per week and complete online coursework three days per week. Wednesday will be utilized as a cleaning day. The other option for parents is total online learning. Sefcheck stressed that, “this is not a plan – but only a framework at this point.” The district will attempt to conduct their regular meeting next Monday online, as their agenda includes approving a 4-million-dollar tax anticipation loan to fill an over 2-million-dollar budget shortfall.
July 27, 2020 10:46 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Target is joining Walmart in closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day, ending a decade-long tradition of jump starting Black Friday sales. The move, announced Monday, comes as stores are rethinking the Black Friday in-store door busters as they try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has seen a resurgence in a slew of states. Target opened for the first time on Thanksgiving in 2011, joining other stores in jump-starting Black Friday sales and creating a new tradition of shoppers heading out to the stores after their turkey feast.
July 27, 2020 10:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for the coronavirus. That’s according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it by name. He’s the highest-ranking White House official to test positive so far. The White House confirmed that O’Brien has mild symptoms and “has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.” The White House says “there is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President” and that the “work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.” (Photo: Getty Images)
July 27, 2020 9:42 am
An Alabama pastor says more than 40 people have been infected with the coronavirus after attending a multi-day revival event at a Baptist church. Pastor Daryl Ross of Warrior Creek Missionary Baptist Church in Marshall County says the churchgoers, including himself, tested positive after the congregation held a series of religious services featuring a guest pastor over the course of several days last week. Ross told Al.com that “just about” everyone in the church has the virus. Services were shut down by Friday after one of the members who attended had tested positive for the virus. Over the weekend, dozens more fell ill.
July 27, 2020 9:41 am
The world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it’s one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race. The needed proof: Whether more people who get dummy shots become infected than those given two doses of the real vaccine. The U.S. government plans separate huge studies of several leading vaccine candidates through fall, each in hot spots where the virus still is spreading.
July 27, 2020 9:40 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A peaceful protest morphed into an intense early morning confrontation between demonstrators and law enforcement in Oregon’s largest city. U.S. agents fired what appeared to be tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls early Monday to clear a mass of protesters outside the federal courthouse in Portland. Some protesters had climbed over the fence surrounding the courthouse. Others shot fireworks, banged on the fence and projected lights on the building. The city has seen nightly protests for two months since the death of George Floyd. Earlier Sunday, Portland police say a person was shot at a park near where the protests take place. A bag was also found containing loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails.
July 27, 2020 4:28 am
Governor Tom Wolf has allowed legislation requiring his administration to process Right-to-Know Law requests during emergency declarations to become law without his signature. Previously, Wolf had said he would veto the legislation. Unanimously approved in both chambers, it requires all agencies to fulfill and respond to Right-to-Know requests, including during emergency declarations such as the one earlier this year that shut down state offices. In a statement, Wolf said since the bill was introduced, his administration “has expressed deep concerns with forcing commonwealth employees to physically come to an office to process records requests under dangerous conditions. We have gone above and beyond to provide information to the legislature and public throughout the pandemic, including the data that drive our decision making.” Calling the legislation “ill-conceived and poorly drafted,” Wolf said the state’s Office of Open Records assured him it will write guidelines to keep state employees safe. Wolf said state agencies have been processing and responding to records requests for months, and that offices had reopened and were processing requests as the bill made its way through the Legislature.
