January 22, 2021 4:13 am
Some of Pennsylvania’s largest health systems are delivering a reality check after the state greatly expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine this week. Hospital officials say there’s not nearly enough vaccine to meet surging demand. Pennsylvania has expanded initial eligibility for the vaccine to include people age 65 and over as well as younger people with serious health conditions. Some 3.5 million people are now eligible to receive one of the two approved vaccines. The slow vaccine rollout comes as Pennsylvania surpassed 20,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
January 22, 2021 2:49 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is elevating two officials involved in his administration’s response to the coronavirus to replace the departing Dr. Rachel Levine as his health secretary and physician general. Wolf said Friday he intends to nominate a deputy chief of staff, Alison Beam, to take over as secretary of the Department of Health. Wolf, meanwhile, elevated Dr. Wendy Braund, the Covid-19 response director for the department, to the position of the acting interim physician general. Beam has helped coordinate the administration’s pandemic response. Levine’s last day was to be Friday, as she prepares to become President Joe Biden’s nominee to be his assistant secretary of health.
January 22, 2021 2:06 am
Hearings for Local Share Account funds consideration ended on Friday morning and the 10 member committee approved 42 projects for funding. Chairman Jeff Kotula listed all of the projects in a live streamed vote that awarded $6,603,315 in funds derived from gaming revenues as required by the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. The recommendations are spread along many interests. Some of the grants recommended were façade improvement programs in Washington and Canonsburg, a public access improvement project at Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, a collision repair spray booth at Washington Area Career and Technology Center and a trash compactor project for the City Mission. The City of Washington was recommended for its Code Enforcement Demolition program and the Washington County Home Rehabilitation Access and Buyer Assistance Program was recommended as well. The list of projects will now be forwarded to the Washington County Commissioners for their approval.
January 21, 2021 4:21 am
BEIJING (AP) – Chinese state media say a worker trapped in a gold mine for more than a week has died as rescuers are trying to clear debris and improve ventilation to save 21 others. Cages, skips and other debris blocked the mine’s main shaft after the explosion. Rescuers are drilling other shafts for communication, ventilation and possibly to lift trapped workers to the surface. Rescuers have been in contact with 11 workers trapped in one chamber and have delivered food. The worker who died had a head injury, and two others in that chamber are in poor health. Another worker was reportedly alive in a nearby chamber, but the fate of another 10 is unknown.
January 21, 2021 4:18 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California says it’s safe to resume using a batch of coronavirus vaccine after some people fell ill and a halt to injections was recommended. Wednesday’s decision frees up more than 300,000 doses to counties, cities and hospitals struggling to obtain supplies. The state Department of Public Health on Sunday urged a pause in using a specific lot of the Moderna vaccine. That came after fewer than 10 people had possible allergic reactions after receiving shots at a San Diego vaccination site. But the state’s epidemiologist says a safety review found “no scientific basis to continue the pause” and shots can resume immediately.
January 21, 2021 4:16 am
MENDON, N.Y. (AP) – Three National Guard members on a routine training flight have been killed in a helicopter crash in a western New York town. The craft, a UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter, crashed around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mendon, New York, a rural town south of Rochester. Eric Durr, public affairs director of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, says it flew out of the Army Aviation Support Facility at Rochester International Airport, and was assigned to C Company of the 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Battalion. The circumstances were under investigation.
January 21, 2021 4:15 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Police say a group of about 150 protesters carrying anti-Biden and anti-police signs marched in Portland streets and damaged the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Oregon. The group smashed windows and spray-painted anarchist symbols Wednesday at the political party building and police say eight arrests were made. Police say it was one of four groups gathering in the city on Inauguration Day. A group of about 150 people also marched in Seattle, where police say windows at a federal courthouse were broken and three people were arrested.
January 21, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is putting the United States back into the worldwide fight to slow global warming as one of his first acts in office. Biden signed an order returning the United States to the Paris climate accord within hours of his oath-taking Wednesday. Biden in his inaugural address said the need for climate action couldn’t be “any more desperate or any more clear.” Biden signed other orders launching a series of climate-friendly efforts that could transform how Americans drive and get their power. That includes a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing in the Arctic wilderness.
January 21, 2021 4:13 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day announcements on immigration are far-reaching. A raft of executive orders undoes many of his predecessor’s hallmark initiatives, such as halting work on a border wall with Mexico and lifting a travel ban from several predominantly Muslim countries. Proposed legislation would give a path to citizenship to anyone in the United States before Jan. 1, 2021 – an estimated 11 million people. The bill faces an enormous test in Congress. The Homeland Security Department announced a 100-day deportation moratorium and halt to returning asylum-seekers to Mexico to wait for hearings in U.S. immigration court.
January 21, 2021 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Three new Democratic senators have been sworn into office, giving Democrats the majority in the Senate. In a first vote, the Senate has confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. The Senate is now split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential tie-breaking vote. That’s alongside Democratic control of the House and White House – unified government to tackle the new president’s agenda. Harris delivered the oath of office to Democrats Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock and Alex Padilla. But Republican leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to enter a power-sharing agreement with Senate Democrats unless they meet his demands. (Photo: CNN)
