March 6, 2021 8:35 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senators have worked through the night on the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill, dispensing with a variety of mostly Republican amendments in a marathon series of votes without substantially changing the overall package. Approval of the bill is expected later, although the timing is uncertain, after Senate leaders and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin reached a deal late Friday over emergency jobless benefits. That compromise is backed by President Joe Biden. Once the Senate finishes work on Biden’s foremost legislative priority, the bill would return to the House for final approval. The package is aimed at battling the pandemic and nursing the economy back to health.
March 6, 2021 3:53 am
(WPXI)— Washington County this week became the seventh in Pennsylvania to proclaim itself a “second amendment sanctuary.” The resolution states the county will protect Second Amendment rights and uphold both the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions which grant rights to gun owners. Commissioner Diana Vaughan calls it an extra layer of protection for gun owners in Washington County – making sure their right to bear arms isn’t taken away. “We’ve been watching what’s been going on in our nation and our state and discussions that have been had recently and decided we needed to step up to protect the rights of our citizens,” Vaughan said. The resolution, unanimously approved by the Washington County board of commissioners, took effect immediately. “What this resolution means for Washington County is that if there would be laws passed that would violate our constitutional right to bear arms, they would not be enforced in Washington County,” she said. Vaughan says events in the last year made them concerned that more rights could be violated. “When we look at the stay at home orders and the business closures, Washington County stood up. We took legal action to uphold our constitutional right then and this was another step to ensure that our rights are not infringed,” said Vaughan. Lori Haas is with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence – a gun control advocacy group. “Resolutions at the county level regarding so called second amendment sanctuaries do not carry the weight of law they do not have a policy in fact don’t frankly have a practical impact,” said Haas. Last month, Greene County commissioners voted to approve a Second Amendment resolution. Fayette County approved a similar ordinance last year.
March 5, 2021 4:27 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee is charged with fraud and money laundering conspiracy crimes in a newly unsealed indictment in New York. Authorities say that he and cohorts fooled investors through social media to make over $13 million. They said McAfee and his team capitalized on zeal over the emerging cryptocurrency market as they lied to investors. The 75-year-old McAfee was charged along with 40-year-old Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. They say Watson served as an executive adviser to McAfee. Watson was arrested yesterday in Texas. McAfee is detained in Spain on separate tax-related criminal charges brought last year in Tennessee.
March 5, 2021 1:25 pm
A SWAT situation in Burgettstown ended peacefully after an hours long standoff. Smith Township Police Chief LaRue tells WJPA News that they received a call around four o’clock Friday morning of a man threatening suicide in a home on Harris Street in the area of Joffre Bulger Road. When they arrived, LaRue says the situation changed into a domestic incident and a weapon was fired from inside the home. A SWAT team was called in at that time and they in turn, called for the Allegheny County Bomb Squad. LaRue says the road in that area was shut down and residents in neighboring homes were evacuated as a safety precaution. A woman in the home, believed to be the man’s girlfriend, came out of the home, but she was alone. LaRue says they were eventually able to go into the home and clear the residence, but the man was not inside. He was picked up and taken into custody a short time later, in Hanover Township. There were no injuries. LaRue says the man was taken to Washington Hospital and charges for examination and charges are expected to be filed.
March 5, 2021 3:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times report that the true number of people who had died in nursing homes in New York was altered by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aides in a state Health Department report in July. The newspapers cited documents and anonymous sources in reporting that the aides pushed state health officials to alter the public report so that only residents who died inside long-term care facilities, and not those who became ill there and later died at a hospital, were counted. The report was released as the Democratic governor’s administration faced criticism over its March 25 directive that sent thousands of recovering coronavirus patients into nursing homes.
March 5, 2021 3:07 am
BAGHDAD (AP) – Pope Francis is heading to Iraq to urge the country’s dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to honor its martyrs. áIraqis were keen to welcome him and the global attention his visit will bring, with banners and posters hanging high in central Baghdad and billboards depicting Francis with the slogan “We are all Brothers” decorating the main thoroughfare. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein described the visit as a historic meeting between the “minaret and the bells,” saying Iraqis were eager to welcome Francis’ “message of peace and tolerance.”
March 5, 2021 3:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The threat to the Capitol still has police on edge. The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police is appealing to congressional leaders to back her request to keep National Guard troops protecting the building and lawmakers for another two months. Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told congressional leaders in a letter obtained by The Associated Press she needed their assistance with the three-member Capitol Police Board, which oversees her department and reports to those House and Senate leaders. Her letter underscores the confusion over how best to secure the Capitol after a dismal lack of protection on Jan. 6. Authorities were on high alert Thursday after warnings of a new plot to attack the Capitol, but all was quiet.
March 5, 2021 3:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers likely stepped up their hiring in February as confirmed viral cases declined, consumers spent big chunks of their government aid checks and the economy appeared to be sustaining a tentative recovery. Economists have forecast that job growth reached 175,000 last month, according to data provider FactSet. That would mark a sharp improvement over an average of just 29,000 jobs a month from November through January. Yet with the nation still 10 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic level, monthly hiring would need to significantly accelerate to bring relief to the many people who remain laid off, especially at restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues and other areas of the hospitality industry that are far from recovered.
March 5, 2021 3:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats trying to move their 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill through the Senate have laid aside one battle over boosting the minimum wage. But they’ve promptly descended into another internal fight, slowing work on President Joe Biden’s premier legislative priority. The Senate seemingly killed progressives’ last-ditch effort to include a federal minimum wage hike in the relief package. The vote against the increase was 58-42, with eight Democrats joining Republicans in opposition, though the vote wasn’t yet formally gaveled to a close. But then, a deal on unemployment benefits between progressive and moderate Democrats seemed to unravel, and Senate work froze as leaders sought a solution.
March 5, 2021 3:00 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — After an “overwhelmingly positive response” to an initial Covid-19 vaccine clinic at Heinz Field this week, officials are opening up more appointment slots for next week. Appointments for March 8-9 will be made available online on Friday, March 5. Additional appointments may be added as more vaccines are received. Appointments can be scheduled at the “Vaccine Clinics” option via the Giant Eagle online scheduling tool. Giant Eagle Pharmacy expects to receive a shipment of vaccine in the coming days that would enable appointments for March 10 to be made available online over the weekend, and eligible patients are encouraged to routinely check availability online. More than 4,000 people managed to secure online appointments via Giant Eagle for vaccinations this week. The clinic is a partnership between Giant Eagle and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
