October 25, 2021 10:29 am
Moderna says its low-dose COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to work in 6- to 11-year-olds. It is the second U.S. vaccine aimed at eventually being offered to children. Already the Food and Drug Administration is considering kid-sized doses of the Pfizer vaccine for elementary school-aged children – and if regulators give the OK, shots could begin early next month. As for Moderna, the company said half-dose shots induced strong levels of virus-fighting antibodies in youngsters, with temporary side effects such as fever and fatigue.
October 25, 2021 7:59 am
CAIRO (AP) – Sudan’s military has seized power, dissolving the transitional government hours after troops arrested the prime minister and other officials. Thousands of people flooded into the streets to protest Monday’s coup. The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said security forces opened fire on some of the crowds, and three protesters were killed. The takeover threatens the country’s shaky progress toward democracy. It comes more than two years after protesters forced the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and just weeks before the military was expected to hand the leadership of the council that runs the country over to civilians. After the early morning arrests of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and others, thousands poured into the streets of the capital and its twin city to protest.
October 25, 2021 4:23 am
NEW YORK (AP) – James Michael Tyler, the actor known widely for his recurring role as Gunther on “Friends,” has died. He was 59. Tyler died Sunday at home in Los Angeles from prostrate cancer, said his manager, Toni Benson. Tyler was first diagnosed with advanced prostrate cancer in 2018. Tyler had appeared briefly in 1990s series like “Just Shoot Me!” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” before being cast as a background character in the second episodes of “Friends” in 1994. Over the show’s multi-year-run, he became the most frequently recurring guest star on the series playing Gunther, the Central Perk worker with an unrequited affection for Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel.
October 25, 2021 4:20 am
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Haiti’s capital has been brought to the brink of exhaustion by fuel shortages, after staggering along despite an earthquake, the assassination of the president, gang violence and mass kidnappings. More than two weeks of fuel deliveries interrupted by gang blockades and abductions of fuel truck drivers have driven residents of Port-au-Prince to a desperate search for gasoline and diesel. The fuels are widely used to run generators needed to compensate for the country’s unreliable electrical system. Protests have broken out and the capital’s foremost pediatrics hospital says it has only three days of fuel left to run ventilators and medical equipment. A spokesman for Saint Damien hospital warns that the situation there “is very critical.”
October 25, 2021 4:17 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A powerful storm barreled toward Southern California after flooding highways, toppling trees and causing mud flows in areas burned bare by recent fires across the northern part of the state. Drenching showers and strong winds accompanied the arrival of an atmospheric river – a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean. Flooding was reported across the San Francisco Bay Area. To the north, the California Highway Patrol closed State Route 70 in Butte County because of mudslides within the massive Dixie Fire burn scar. The weather service’s Sacramento office warned of “potentially historic rain.”
October 25, 2021 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – White House proposals for new taxes on billionaires and certain corporations to help pay for President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill is drawing the backing of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. A person who requested anonymity to discuss Manchin’s position tells The Associated Press the senator is agreeable to the White House’s new approach on the tax proposals. Biden spent hours Sunday at his home in Delaware with Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Democrats are trying to wrap up talks on the social services and climate change package now being eyed at $1.75 trillion, though it could still climb higher.
October 25, 2021 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is hitting new post-pandemic lows, but the labor force and payrolls shrank in September as employers struggle to find enough employees. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.2% from August’s rate. The national rate was 4.8% in September, and Pennsylvania lags most other states at 41st among 50. Pennsylvania has regained about 65% of the 1.1 million jobs lost in the pandemic. Unemployment rates were lower in 27 states. The surveys were conducted after the federal government ended supplemental payments of $300 a week, as well as expanded unemployment benefits to the self-employed.
October 25, 2021 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Spending in the race for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court has blown past $5 million, with less than two weeks left until Election Day. Campaign finance reports filed Friday show that most of it, or roughly $3 million, has been spent to help Republican Kevin Brobson, including spending by third-party groups in the race. That compared with about $2 million to help Democrat Maria McLaughlin. Brobson’s largest donor, by far, is a group that receives millions from suburban Philadelphia billionaire Jeffrey Yass. Labor unions, the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and the state Democratic Party are McLaughlin’s biggest donors.
October 25, 2021 2:26 am
NORTH STRABANE TWP., Pa. — One person is dead following a wrong-way crash on Interstate 79 early Sunday morning. According to the Washington County Coroner, Holly Ann Davis, 56, of Canonsburg was the sole occupant of a vehicle traveling northbound on the highway near the border with South Strabane Township. Her vehicle was struck by a wrong-way driver traveling south in the northbound lanes just before 2:00 a.m. Prior to the crash, 911 operators say they received calls about the wrong-way driver near the Southpointe interchange. Davis was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. The wrong-way driver was identified as Kristina Rose Coyne, 26, of Washington. Coyne was flown to an area hospital for treatment and her condition is unknown. Police have not said whether or not Coyne will face charges. The Pennsylvania State Police are investigating. Assisting on scene included Canonsburg Ambulance, North Strabane and Peters Township Fire Departments and the South Strabane Police.
October 25, 2021 2:17 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — The National Weather Service has confirmed eight tornadoes in Southwestern Pennsylvania stemming from storms Thursday night. Three of those twisters touched down in portions of Washington County. The strongest tornado ripped through Hopewell Township and areas near the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. before weakening near Houston. The estimated peak winds for that storm were 130 mph over a nearly 16-mile track. Trees were uprooted, while homes were damaged and farms destroyed. Peters Township experienced an EF-1 tornado that was associated with the Hopewell storm between 8:07 and 8:10 p.m. that night. Estimated peak winds were 95 mph over the 1.5-mile track. Trees were uprooted in that event, along with minor damage to homes in the area. An additional EF-1 tornado was also confirmed just east of West Finley between 7:58 and 8:00 p.m. Winds reached 100 mph over the half-mile track, causing damage to trees and some farm structures. The total tornado count for the area is now at 15 for the month. Between 1950 and 2020, only 11 total tornadoes have hit the area in the month of October. The full list of tornado damage in Southwestern Pennsylvania is below:
EAST OF WEST FINLEY (PA, WASHINGTON COUNTY) EF-1
PETERS TOWNSHIP (PA, WASHINGTON COUNTY) EF-1
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP (PA, WASHINGTON COUNTY) EF-2
HAMPTON TOWNSHIP (PA, ALLEGHENY COUNTY) EF-1
MOUNT NEBO (PA, ALLEGHENY COUNTY) EF-0
BUTLER (PA, BUTLER COUNTY) EF-0
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (PA, BEAVER COUNTY) EF-1
NEW GALILEE (PA, BEAVER COUNTY) EF-1
