September 16, 2020 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state representatives are giving their approval to a bill that would keep governors from using their emergency powers to shut down houses of worship during emergencies. All Republicans and roughly half the Democrats voted Tuesday for the bill, which was sent to the Senate. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf hasn’t closed churches during the pandemic, but he’s asked church leaders to take steps to protect their congregants. The bill would amend the state Religious Freedom Protection Act to ban governors from infringing on anyone’s ability to assemble for worship or to travel to their place of worship.
September 16, 2020 4:05 am
Pittsburgh area doctors are continuing the study into what possible effects fracking and drilling could have on childhood cancer rates in southwestern Pennsylvania. The SWPA Environmental Health Project hosted a seminar via Zoom Tuesday night with University of Pittsburgh Doctor Shaina Stacy, who serves as a postdoctoral associate. Dr. Stacy says that multiple studies have been implemented to see if the fracking process could cause problems with spikes in childhood cancers and birth defects. Dr. Stacy has studied cases of pediatric leukemia in this area from 2007-2015, and has found that in that time, roughly 15-33 cases have occurred in Washington County. The doctor says with more wells in a particular area, there is more risk of health problems. She thinks that additional testing and studies are needed, and that the delay in case recordings at the state level causes issues in the accurate completion of their work.
September 15, 2020 5:55 pm
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer says the city has agreed to a settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor that includes a $12 million payment and police reforms after the Black woman was fatally shot by police who burst into her home at night. Taylor’s death sparked months of protests in Louisville and calls nationwide for the officers to be criminally charged. The state’s attorney general is investigating police actions in the March 13 fatal shooting. The lawsuit was filed in April by Taylor’s mother and alleged the police used flawed information when they obtained a “no-knock” warrant to enter the 26-year-old woman’s apartment in March. (Photo: CNN)
September 15, 2020 12:37 pm
(WPXI) – Three shopping malls in the Pittsburgh area will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, but will be open on Black Friday. Ross Park Mall, South Hills Village and Grove City Premium Outlets will not open their doors Nov. 26TH. Simon Property Group, which owns the malls, made the announcement Monday. It will not open any of its properties on Thanksgiving, citing challenging times. “In these challenging times, we made the decision that we will not open on Thanksgiving Day, instead allowing our associates to spend the holiday with their loved ones,” David Simon, Chairman, CEO and President of Simon Properties, said in a statement. Simon Property Group is the largest mall operator in the United States with locations in almost 40 states. Major retailers — including Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Office Depot/OfficeMax and Sam’s Club — have announced that stores will be closed on Thanksgiving.
September 15, 2020 12:32 pm
HARRISBURG (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that pandemic restrictions that required people to stay at home, placed limits on gatherings and ordered “non-life-sustaining” businesses to close are unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, an appointee of President Donald Trump, sided with plaintiffs that included hair salons, drive-in movie theaters, a farmer’s market vendor, a horse trainer and several Republican officeholders. Courts had consistently rejected challenges to Wolf’s power to order businesses to close during the pandemic. Wolf’s spokesperson said Monday the administration will seek delayed enforcement of the ruling while it appeals.
September 15, 2020 9:58 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Researchers at Pitt’s School of Medicine report finding an antibody component that has shown promise in fighting COVID-19. According to a news release, the component is 10 times smaller than an antibody and was used to create a drug to rid the body of the coronavirus. The molecule specifically neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The study was reported in the journal ‘Cell’ and showed the new drug, called Ab8, was very effective in treating the virus in mice and hamsters. The study showed due to the small size of the antibody component, there’s promise in being able to have it administered in alternative ways, such as through inhalation. It also showed signs that it would not have a negative side effect in humans. Not only could the drug treat COVID-19, it could also keep people from catching it. Abound Bio, a newly formed UPMC-backed company, has licensed the new drug for worldwide development.
September 15, 2020 4:27 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – With the smell of California wildfires in the air, President Donald Trump on Monday ignored the scientific consensus that climate change is playing a central role in West Coast infernos. He reiterated his unfounded claim that poor forest management is to blame. The fires are threatening to become another front in Trump’s reelection bid, which is already facing hurdles because of the coronavirus pandemic, joblessness and social unrest. His Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, in his own speech Monday said the destruction and mounting death toll across California, Oregon and Washington required stronger presidential leadership, and he labeled Trump a “climate arsonist.”
September 15, 2020 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is running as the “law and order” candidate, but that hasn’t stopped him and his reelection campaign from defying state emergency orders and flouting his administration’s coronavirus guidelines as he holds rallies in battleground states. Democratic governors and local leaders have urged the president to reconsider the events, warning that he’s putting lives at risk. But they have largely not tried to stop the gatherings of several thousand people as Trump and his team push forward, likening them to “peaceful protests” protected by the First Amendment.
September 15, 2020 4:24 am
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (AP) – Hurricane Sally is crawling toward the northern Gulf Coast at just 2 mph, a pace that’s enabling the storm to gather huge amounts of water to eventually dump on land. Forecasters now expect landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday near the Alabama-Mississippi state line. Rainfall is increasing in the two states, where some coastal roads have been closed because of flooding. Forecasters say the slow-moving storm will bring record flooding to the region, with nearly 2 feet of rain accumulation in some areas near the coast. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is urging residents near Mobile Bay to evacuate if they still can.
September 15, 2020 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Israel on Tuesday signed historic diplomatic pacts with two Gulf Arab states at a White House ceremony that President Donald Trump hopes will mark the “dawn of a new Middle East” and cast him as a peacemaker at the height of his reelection campaign. Hundreds of people massed on the sun-washed South Lawn to witness the signing of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The agreements formalize the normalization of the Jewish state’s already warming relations with the two countries over Iranian aggression in the region. But they do not address the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
