August 10, 2020 4:27 am
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) – States are having to consider whether they can afford a plan from President Donald Trump to extend additional unemployment benefits, The plan requires states to provide 25 percent of the funds, and it’s unclear whether states have the money or the will to do it. Trump issued an executive order Saturday to provide an additional $400 a week in benefits after Congress failed to extend a $600 weekly benefit. But Trump’s plan requires states to kick in $100 a week, and many states are already suffering budget woes related to the coronavirus. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says it would cost his state alone $500 million to provide the extra benefit through the rest of 2020.
August 10, 2020 4:24 am
On days when it’s 90 degrees and the sun is shining brightly, people want to be outside, so they flock to state parks. But the number of people visiting is growing, causing places like Keystone State Park to turn visitors away. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is warning several Pennsylvania state parks and forests about overcrowding. On Sunday at the beach area in Keystone State Park, umbrellas and tents were lined up as far as you could see. Groups of people were swimming and barbecuing, and kids were on the playground. Right now, capacity is limited to 75 percent of normal capacity, face masks are required and social distancing is encouraged. But with the influx of people on the weekends, state parks are having to turn visitors away. To help reduce overcrowding, overflow parking may be closed to turn people away. The parks also asking people to look for other less-crowded locations for recreation.
August 10, 2020 4:22 am
A small plane overturned off the runway at the Rostraver Airport in Westmoreland County on Sunday afternoon. Dispatchers said it happened at around 2:48 p.m. According to our partners at WPXI, the pilot was coming in for a landing and flipped. The pilot managed to get himself out of the plane and was evaluated for minor injuries. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident. (Photo: Rostraver Central Fire Dept.)
August 10, 2020 2:00 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — Around 10% of Pitt students will be randomly tested for the coronavirus even if they’re not showing any symptoms. The university will test students who live on and off campus. Students will receive an email notifying them of the date and time of their test. They will receive a test kit, collect a sample using a nasal swab themselves and then drop it off. Testing is expected to occur throughout the fall semester.
August 9, 2020 8:07 am
The number of British companies planning to cut staff numbers in June was five times higher than in the same month a year earlier, in an ominous sign of COVID-19’s economic impact. Figures obtained by the BBC show that 1,778 companies informed the government of plans to cut a total of 139,000 jobs. A year earlier the figure was 345 companies announcing a total of 24,000 job losses. Businesses are required to inform the Insolvency Service if they plan to cut 20 or more jobs. During the pandemic the government has been paying the salaries of almost 10 million furloughed workers. Economists are predicting a surge in unemployment when that program ends in October.
August 9, 2020 8:06 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot late Saturday in the city that had hoped for calm after federal agents withdrew more than a week ago. Police say three officers were hurt while clearing the crowd late Saturday outside the Portland Police Association building. Several rallies had been held earlier in the afternoon and evening throughout the city. Gatherings this week have been noticeably smaller than the crowds of thousands who turned out nightly for about two weeks in July to protest the presence of U.S. agents sent by the Trump administration to protect the federal courthouse.
August 9, 2020 8:05 am
TOKYO (AP) – The Japanese city of Nagasaki has marked its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban. At 11:02 a.m., the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 10,000-pound plutonium bomb dubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead. The Aug. 9, 1945, bombing came three days after the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the world’s first ever nuclear attack that killed 140,000. On Aug. 15, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Many survivors developed cancer or other illnesses due to their exposure to radiation and suffered discrimination.
August 9, 2020 8:04 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has arrived in Taiwan in the highest-level visit by an American Cabinet official since the break in formal diplomatic relations between Washington and Taipei in 1979. Beijing has already protested Azar’s visit as a betrayal of U.S. commitments not to have official contact with the island that China claims as its own territory. Azar is due to meet with the island’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen along with health officials during his three-day visit aimed at highlighting cooperation against the coronavirus. Azar’s visit was facilitated by the 2018 passage of the Taiwan Travel Act, which encouraged Washington to send higher-level officials to Taiwan after decades during which such contacts were rare.
August 9, 2020 8:03 am
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) – President Donald Trump has bypassed the nation’s lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and replace an expired unemployment benefit with a lower amount after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed. Trump’s orders on Saturday encroached on Congress’ control of federal spending and seemed likely to be met with legal challenges. The president cast his actions as necessary given that lawmakers have been unable to reach an agreement to plunge more money into the stumbling economy, which has imperiled his November reelection. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed Trump’s actions as “meager” in the face of economic and health crises facing Americans.
August 9, 2020 7:55 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (WPXI) — A chaotic scene unfolded at Kennywood Saturday as a woman had to be rushed to a local hospital after having a medical emergency. Police sources inside the park say there was a very serious medical emergency that led to this incident early that afternoon. Kennywood officials said park staff was alerted to a “non-ride related medical emergency” around 1:30 p.m. Medical service staff at the park, along with West Mifflin Police, responded to the Merry-Go-Round to help the woman. According to police sources, emergency responders had to perform CPR and used an AED machine on the victim — who has not been identified — before taking her to the hospital. Her condition is unclear at this point, and police didn’t describe what caused the medical emergency.
