February 10, 2021 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A new government study finds that wearing two masks can be better than one in protecting against coronavirus spread. But health officials are stopping short of recommending that everyone double up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported the results of a lab experiment. The researchers found that particles were blocked twice as much when two masks were worn. The CDC is updating its guidance to address wearing two masks. It says that a cloth mask worn over a surgical mask can tighten the gaps around the mask’s edges that can let virus particles in. (Photo: CNN)
February 10, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are arguing that former President Donald Trump “built” the mob that attacked the Capitol. Prosecutors at Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday said Trump fired up his supporters with lies about a stolen election and followed up with an invitation to a Jan. 6 rally. House impeachment manager Eric Swalwell detailed how Trump announced the rally on Twitter: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” Swalwell said Jan. 6 was Trump’s “last chance to stop a peaceful transition of power.” Swalwell said Trump’s tweet wasn’t a “casual, one-off reference or a single invitation.” Swalwell said he repeatedly reminded his supporters to show up.
February 10, 2021 4:09 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say a multistory building on Pittsburgh’s South Side built at least 141 years ago will be demolished on safety grounds after a massive fire and partial collapse. Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said in a Twitter post Tuesday that the structure is “considered structurally unsound” after the collapse. Fire crews fought for hours Monday to contain the blaze reported at about 2:30 p.m. that sent flames and smoke poured from the building. At one point, the side of the building facing 11th street collapsed, showering the streets with bricks, glass and other materials. No one was injured. The cause of the fire is under investigation. (Photo: WPXI)
February 10, 2021 4:08 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Police say seven people were killed Monday around the city of Philadelphia in a sharp increase in violence that had already surged to near-record levels last year. The killings brought the total number of homicides so far this year to 62, a 55-percent increase over the number at the same time last year that saw a total of 499 homicides. Police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said many factors are behind the surge, including more people at home and more people inside. She said police were trying to ensure that mediation is available and to deal with narcotics, which has been driving a lot of the violence.
February 10, 2021 4:07 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Wolf administration and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers are forming a vaccine task force that will brainstorm ways to get COVID-19 shots into Pennsylvanians’ arms more rapidly. A persistent lack of supply and the state’s laggy distribution system have slowed efforts to vaccinate more than 4 million Pennsylvania residents who are currently eligible for the vaccine. Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that Pennsylvania needs to do a “better job” of administering the shots. Meanwhile, the state Health Department has unveiled a new vaccine eligibility tool on its website, called “Your Turn.”
February 9, 2021 1:16 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – U.S. safety officials are criticizing the helicopter pilot’s decisions during the Southern California flight that crashed last year and killed Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and six other passengers. National Transportation Safety Board members on Tuesday say pilot Ara Zobayan went against his training and violated flight rules by flying into thick clouds during the roughly 40-minute flight that crashed on Jan. 26, 2020. Zobayan frequently flew Bryant and his children and was also killed. Tuesday’s federal hearing focused on the long-awaited probable cause or causes of the tragedy that unleashed worldwide grief for the retired basketball star, launched several lawsuits and prompted state and federal legislation.
February 9, 2021 9:44 am
Fort Cherry High School grad Marty Schottenheimer, who won 200 regular-season games with four NFL teams thanks to his “Martyball” brand of smash-mouth football but regularly fell short in the playoffs, has died. He was 77. Family friend Bob Moore says Schottenheimer died late Monday night at a hospice in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014. He was moved to a hospice on Jan. 30. Schottenheimer was the eighth-winningest coach in NFL history. He went 200-126-1 in 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers. His success was rooted in “Martyball,” a conservative approach that featured a strong running game and tough defense
February 9, 2021 4:42 am
Peters Township Council spent a good portion of their meeting Monday night reviewing initial steps toward the construction of an aquatic center in Rolling Hills Park. The aquatic center has not been approved, but because of logistical and cost saving advantages, Township Manager Paul Lauer presented options for council to perform preliminary grading work for the pool regardless of whether a pool is built now or several years In the future. The township’s current grading contractor is working on other areas of the park designated for development this year. Lauer suggests adding the grading for the pool to the current contractor whose bids have been very favorable instead of doing a second bidding and running the risk of higher costs or having to coordinate between two separate contractors. Lauer also pointed out that having the work for the pool completed while the other park development work is ongoing will save having the park torn apart twice, once for the current park project and if necessary years later, tearing it apart for more construction. Council approved allowing Lauer to request a proposal for the additional work. Lauer was emphatic in reminding council that doing the work now in no way commits them to building a pool this year. It does allow for work to be already completed if the project is postponed.
February 9, 2021 4:40 am
Vaccine administration has been the most recent hurdle for health care providers to cross in the battle against Covid-19. Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward provided an update to their progress in getting shots into people’s arms. Ward stated that a website dedicated to vaccine distribution only went down after two minutes when it was turned on Monday February, 1. Ward indicated that the site’s popularity is what crashed it several times that day. Improvements have been made to prevent that in the future. Nearly 25,000 people have registered on the site and roughly 1500 people have been scheduled to receive vaccines last week and this week. Patients can expect to gain greater access to vaccines as WHS will be expanding their footprint by using the old Ross Store in the Washington Crown Center, the Recreation Center in Peters Township and a larger facility at the hospital in Waynesburg. Ward states that WHS will have the capability to administer 8000 vaccines per week but that all depends on if the vaccines that are ordered are delivered by the federal government. Ward says that he orders his allotment of vaccines for first and second doses on Wednesday of each week and it is never guaranteed that what is ordered is what is delivered. Ward says cooperation between systems is the best way to get through the scheduling dilemma. He pointed to a coordinated effort between WHS, Mon Valley Hospital and Cornerstone Care to administer vaccines to local schools.
February 9, 2021 4:15 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Mary Wilson, the longest-reigning original Supreme, has died at 76 years old. Publicist Jay Schwartz says Wilson died Monday night at her home in Las Vegas and that the cause was not immediately clear. Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard made up the first successful configuration of The Supremes. She stayed with the group until it was officially disbanded by Motown in 1977. The group’s first No. 1, million-selling song, “Where Did Our Love Go,” was released June 17, 1964.
