August 7, 2020 4:11 am
It was a short but impactful Washington City Council Meeting on Thursday night. The meeting started with Police Chief Robert Wilson reprimanding Councilman Matt Staniszewski for not wearing recommended face protection when he is in City Hall. Wilson relayed a story on how he had to reprimand one of his officers for not adhering to face mask protocol when a citizen pointed out how that officer was putting him at risk of not being able to care for his granddaughter because his daughter is now suffering with Covid-19. Staniszewski responded that he does not wear one because of a medical condition. Staniszewski also stated that he is tested regularly for Covid-19. In regular city business, council rejected a bid to build pickleball courts for being much more expensive than originally anticipated. Staniszewski said that the project will be bid in a piece by piece fashion instead of an all encompassing project. Council also approved modifications to its residency requirement for city employees. All non essential employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement will not be required to live in the city. Mayor Scott Putnam indicates that in order to effectively fill some city positions, they need to look beyond city borders. First responders like police and firefighters though, will still have to abide by residency restrictions spelled out in their contracts.
August 7, 2020 4:08 am
The Canon-McMillan School District has voted to take a hybrid approach to learning this Fall. Board Members voted 7-2 on Thursday night to approve the plan, which will allow students the opportunity to get at least two days of in-class learning each week. According to the plan, students will either return to the building Monday and Thursday, or Tuesday and Friday, depending on which group they are assigned. The days that they are not assigned to come into school, they will be learning virtually. Every student district-wide will be learning from home on Wednesdays in the Fall as long as the current plan holds. The district is also giving students the option to learn virtually full-time as well. Few parents attended the meeting in person to voice concerns, but those who did think it is more important to get kids back into the classroom 5 days a week. The board also voted to bump back the start of school year from Monday, August 24th to Thursday, August 27th to give teachers and aides more time to prepare for classes.
August 7, 2020 4:05 am
The Washington School Board held a 5 minute special voting meeting on Thursday afternoon. The purpose of the meeting was to change the start date for school from August 20 to September 8. Superintendent, Dr. James Konrad said the change was needed for several reasons. The extra time will be used to train teachers on the learning platforms the district will use for its Prexie Cyber program and remote learning days in their hybrid reopening plan. According to Konrad, participation in the full time cyber option has doubled since the announcement of the hybrid reopening plan. Extra care will be given to sanitization of district buildings. The change will also allow families to make arrangements for child care if parents will be at work when students will be in the cyber phase of their school week. Parents can check for updates at www.prexie.org
August 7, 2020 2:24 am
WASHINGTON, Pa – The Trinity Area School District has officially approved their return-to-school plan for the 2020-2021 school year. At Thursday’s planning meeting, the board approved their health and safety plan – which includes two options: a Hybrid Model and Trinity K-12 Cyber. Students who choose the Hybrid Model will be broken into two groups: A or B. They will attend school two consecutive days and then three days of remote, digital, and live learning. The K-12 Cyber option is complete online learning. According to Superintendent, Dr. Michael Lucas, about 15% of Trinity students have chosen the full cyber option. He says the deadline has passed, but parents may still enroll their children up until the start of school. He also said that, if necessary, Trinity will be prepared to begin the school year completely online if the hybrid model is not recommended by the state health and education departments at the current time. In addition, Lucas said he expects more specific guidance regarding fall sports and that, “it would be extremely disappointing if we do not have sports.” Trinity will hold “parent town hall meetings” and be releasing “what to expect videos” for students and families soon.
August 6, 2020 12:50 pm
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s governor has tested positive for the coronavirus just ahead of a planned meeting with President Donald Trump. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s office said Thursday he took the test as part of standard protocol before meeting Trump at an airport in Cleveland. He had planned to join the president on a visit to the Whirlpool Corp. plant in northwest Ohio. His office said DeWine has no symptoms, but is returning to Columbus. His office said he and his wife, Fran DeWine, will both be tested there. DeWine then plans to quarantine at his home in Cedarville for 14 days. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted tested negative.
August 6, 2020 12:44 pm
(WPXI) – It could be the final blow for the struggling Century III Mall. JCPenney, the last surviving store at the mall, has been added to the list of stores the company plans to close. A spokesperson told to Channel 11 the Century III location will shut down for good sometime in late October. Liquidation sales start next Friday and returns will no longer be accepted there. The company is closing more than 150 stores, including locations at the Pittsburgh Mills and Clearview malls. The retailer filed for bankruptcy back in May at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The once beloved mall has been plagued with issues and actually closed last year. Code enforcement said Century III Mall was unsafe and crews were planning to demolish it in the near future but keep JCPenney’s open. Workers aren’t sure when their final day will be.
August 6, 2020 12:35 pm
(AP) – New York’s attorney general is suing the National Rifle Association, seeking to put the powerful gun advocacy organization out of business over allegations that high-ranking executives diverted millions of dollars for personal benefit. The lawsuit filed Thursday by Attorney General Letitia James followed an 18-month investigation into the NRA, which is a nonprofit group originally chartered in New York. She accused its top leaders of using NRA funds for lavish personal trips, contracts for associates and other questionable expenditures. A message was sent to the NRA’s legal team seeking comment.
August 6, 2020 8:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired. The Labor Department’s report marked the 20th straight week that at least 1 million people have sought jobless aid. Before the pandemic hit hard in March, the number of Americans seeking unemployment checks had never surpassed 700,000 in a week, not even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. The new jobless claims were down by 249,000 from the previous week after rising for two straight weeks.
August 6, 2020 4:20 am
BEIRUT (AP) – Investigators probing the deadly blast that ripped across Beirut are focused on possible negligence in the storage of tons of a highly explosive fertilizer in a waterfront warehouse, while the government ordered the house arrest of several port officials. International help began to arrive as Lebanon’s leaders struggled with the widespread damage and shocking aftermath of Tuesday’s blast. The Health Ministry says 135 people were killed and about 5,000 were injured. Public anger mounted against the ruling elite that is being blamed for the chronic mismanagement that led to the disaster. The Port is Beirut and customs office is notorious for being one of the most corrupt institutions in Lebanon, where various factions and politicians, including Hezbollah, hold sway.
August 6, 2020 4:19 am
Facebook has deleted a post by President Donald Trump, citing its coronavirus misinformation policy. The post in question featured a link to a Fox News video in which Trump says children are “virtually immune” to the virus. Facebook said in a statement Wednesday that the video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19. It says that is a violation of its policies around harmful COVID-19 misinformation. A tweet from Trump with the same video remained up on Twitter as of Wednesday afternoon. A few hours later, Twitter temporarily blocked the Trump campaign from tweeting until it removed the same video.
