February 25, 2021 9:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week but remained high by historical standards. Applications for benefits declined 111,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It is the lowest figure since late November. Before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.
February 25, 2021 4:26 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Best Buy said Thursday that it laid off 5,000 full-time store workers earlier this month, even as the company’s sales soared during the pandemic as homebound people bought laptops, TVs and other gadgets. The company said it cut the jobs because more shoppers are choosing to buy online instead of coming inside its stores. Best Buy said it will replace the 5,000 full-time employees with 2,000 part-time workers. Best Buy’s workforce has shrunk in the last year after having to furlough workers when it closed stores during the pandemic. It currently has more than 100,000 workers, down by 21,000, or 17%, from the year before.
February 25, 2021 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Days after marking a solemn milestone in the pandemic, President Joe Biden is celebrating the pace of his efforts to end it. On Thursday, Biden marked the administration of the 50 millionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine since his swearing-in. It came days after the nation reached the devastating milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths and ahead of a meeting with the nation’s governors on plans to speed the distribution even further. Says Biden: “The more people get vaccinated, the faster we’re going to beat this pandemic.” He also noted that his administration is on course to exceed his promise of delivering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.
February 25, 2021 4:21 am
A large real-world test of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine confirms that it’s very effective at preventing serious illness or death, even after one dose. The results come from a mass vaccination campaign in Israel. They give strong reassurance that the benefits seen in smaller tests persisted when the vaccine was used in a general population. The vaccine was 92% effective at preventing severe disease after two shots and 62% after one. Its estimated effectiveness for preventing death was 72% two to three weeks after the first shot. The New England Journal of Medicine published results Wednesday.
February 25, 2021 4:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) – After weeks of going dormant, shares of GameStop have suddenly shot higher again, jumping 75% in the last hour of trading Wednesday and another 60% Thursday. It’s reminiscent of the shocking 1,625% surge for GameStop in January, when bands of smaller-pocketed and novice investors helped trigger a supernova for the stock of the struggling video game retailer. Last month’s surge underscored questions about whether the broad market is in a bubble. No clear reason seems to be behind this most recent move, leaving market observers to grasp at what little news is out there.
February 25, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Guy Reschenthaler joined several other Republican lawmakers in introducing a resolution urging the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing, China. Additionally, if the games are not moved, the resolution calls for the U.S. to lead an international boycott. In a news release, Reschenthaler cites the Chinese Communist Party committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang. He said in the release that the Chinese government needs to be held accountable. “Freedom-loving countries around the world must join together to condemn China’s behavior and show the CCP that the United States and the international community will not idly stand by while they commit atrocities against the Uyghurs, Hong Kongers and other Chinese dissidents,” Reschenthaler said in the release.
February 24, 2021 4:45 am
BUTLER, Pa. — (WPXI) – County commissioners feeling left out as though they didn’t get a seat at the table when the COVID-19 pandemic began are proposing creating a regional health department. They’re not happy with the decisions the state Department of Health is making in terms of COVID-19 testing and the vaccine rollout. Leaders from seven counties are talking about creating a new agency: Washington County, Beaver County, Butler County, Fayette County, Westmoreland County, Greene County, and Lawrence County. “We would be able to have more local control where we would be able to make decisions closest to the local level,” said Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer. Washington County Commissioner Diana Vaughan kick-started the idea and organized the first formal meeting Tuesday. “The first step we decided to take as a seven-county group is to find out from the state what components the Department of Health we would be required to take under a regional umbrella,” Vaughan said. She said the group doesn’t expect to strictly adhere to everything the state department recommends, including restaurant safety or environmental issues. “The second step is each county is going back and compiling their own list of all of the issues with the state health department throughout the pandemic,” Vaughan said. The discussion is still in its very early stages. If the state replies and requires too much, Vaughan said some or all of the counties may drop out. If that happens, county leaders said they may end up taking their concerns and frustrations to state health officials.
February 24, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Leading technology companies say a monthslong breach of corporate and government networks was so sophisticated, focused and labor-intensive that a nation had to be behind it and the evidence points to Russia. On Tuesday, in the first congressional hearing on the breach, representatives of technology companies involved in the response described a hack of almost breathtaking precision, ambition and scope, with the perpetrators stealthily scooping up specific emails and documents on a target list from the U.S. and at least seven other countries. It comes as the U.S. weighs punitive measures against Russia that the White House says will occur in “weeks, not months.”
February 24, 2021 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican leaders in the House and Senate say a proposed plan for an independent commission to study the Capitol insurrection is overly tilted toward Democrats. They say the panel should be an even party split in the mold of a similar panel formed more than 15 years ago to study the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A draft proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would create an 11-member commission with four Republicans and seven Democrats, three of whom would be chosen by President Joe Biden. That’s according an aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details, which have not yet been publicly released.
February 24, 2021 4:14 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Authorities say golf star Tiger Woods car crash was purely an accident, although they are waiting to see if a black box that is included in some SUV’s can shed any light on the crash, if his vehicle was equipped with one. Woods was seriously injured when his SUV crashed into a median and rolled over several times on a steep road in suburban Los Angeles. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s chief medical officer says Woods shattered tibia and fibula bones on his right leg in multiple locations, with additional injuries in the ankle and foot. A statement on his Twitter account says he was awake, responsive and recovering. Authorities had to extricate Woods through the front windshield. They say he’s fortunate to be alive. The accident left him with a shattered ankle and multiple broken bones in his leg. The injuries were repaired with rods, pins and screws. Woods is 45 and had back surgery back in December. The crash happened on a sweeping, downhill stretch of road.
