April 27, 2021 12:43 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. health officials say fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And unvaccinated people can drop face coverings in some cases, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the updated guidance Tuesday. Previously the CDC had been advising that people should wear masks outdoors if they are within 6 feet of each other. The change comes as more than half of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated.
April 27, 2021 8:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors. Administration officials say the order provides a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of those workers, including nursing assistants and laborers. They say workers will become more productive as a result, so the increase should not be costly to taxpayers. The increase approved under Tuesday’s executive order could be dramatic for workers who earn the current minimum of $10.95 an hour. Those workers would receive a 37% pay hike, though the increase would be rolled out gradually.
April 27, 2021 4:17 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Sentencing for former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death has been pushed back to June 25, according to online court records. Chauvin’s June 16 hearing was reset by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill due to a scheduling conflict. Chauvin was convicted April 20 of all three counts against him: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Under Minnesota statutes he’ll only be sentenced on the most serious one – second-degree murder. While that count carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, experts say he won’t get that much.
April 27, 2021 4:14 am
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) – The FBI has launched a civil rights probe into the death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed by deputies in North Carolina. The announcement on Tuesday came hours after Brown’s family released an independent autopsy showing he was shot five times, including in the back of the head. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also called for a special prosecutor as pressure built on local officials to release body camera footage of last week’s shooting. A local judge scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider formal requests to make the video public.
April 27, 2021 4:12 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Organizers of the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The California secretary of state’s office announced Monday that more than 1.6 million signatures had been verified, about 100,000 more than needed to force a vote on the first-term Democrat. An election is likely in the fall when voters would face two questions: Should Newsom be recalled and who should replace him? The votes on the second question will only be counted if more than half say yes to the first. Last week, Caitlyn Jenner joined the list of candidates running to replace Newsom. In 2003, voters recalled Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
April 27, 2021 4:09 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – India has added more than 320,000 new coronavirus cases as a grim surge weighed on the country’s sinking health system. Tuesday’s increase ended a five-day streak of recording the largest single-day increases in any country throughout the pandemic. However, the decline likely reflects lower weekend testing rather than reduced spread of the virus. Meanwhile, foreign aid was arriving. A shipment of medical aid received from Britain included 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators. France is sending breathing machines, ICU gear and oxygen generators in a shipment expected to be sent later this week. The White House was moving to share raw materials for vaccine production to India and was working to satisfy other requests.
April 27, 2021 4:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education could merge six of its 14 universities into two new institutions. It released planning documents Monday, two days before an expected board vote on the plan. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a vote to proceed starts a 60-day public comment period. A final vote would be scheduled for this summer, with implementation in 2022. Chancellor Dan Greenstein warns that some system schools aren’t sustainable without radical change. Under the plans, Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities in northern Pennsylvania would merge, as would California, Clarion and Edinboro in western Pennsylvania. All six campuses would remain open, with integrated faculty and curriculum.
April 27, 2021 4:03 am
Peters Township Council authorized the spending of $60,000 to hire a consulting firm to help determine the best design to improve a spillway and dam on Peters Lake Park. In 2012 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a letter to the township alerting them that the current spillway does not meet current catastrophic flood standards and must be improved. Those standards are 22 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. According to Township Manager Paul Lauer, the largest rainfall in his history in the township came during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. According to Lauer the spillway still had plenty of capacity to contain flooding, but the spillway does not meet DEP standards. The township will work with Rizzo International Inc. to develop a design concept to present to the DEP for their approval. Lauer estimates that the earliest any construction could begin would be late 2022 or early 2023.
April 27, 2021 3:12 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia aims to entice residents aged 16 to 35 to get a coronavirus shot with the promise of a $100 savings bond. Republican Gov. Jim Justice said Monday the move was to “jumpstart” immunizing the demographic that officials say are most likely to be currently spreading the virus. There are about 380,000 people in the age range. The new incentive was announced as the state tries to turn around its sluggish vaccination program. Officials are also considering proposals to make vaccine clinics more ubiquitous by holding events at schools, fairs and more businesses.
April 27, 2021 2:22 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The official word on Monday that Pennsylvania’s population growth continues to lag behind the nation’s marks the 10th consecutive decade the Keystone State has lost clout. The state will have one fewer electoral votes to offer presidential candidates in the next election – from 20 to 19. It also will have one less representative in the U.S. House. The Census figures show Pennsylvania’s resident population crept to just over 13 million last year from 12.7 million in 2010, a gain of 2.4%. That’s far behind the nation’s growth of 7.4%. That could mean Pennsylvania will see a reduced share of federal money for Medicaid, social programs and infrastructure.
