January 29, 2021 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are rejecting a Republican pitch to split President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan into smaller chunks. Democrats and the White House appear ready to leave their GOP opponents behind and push the sweeping economic and virus aid forward on their own. Despite Biden’s calls for unity, Democrats say the stubbornly high unemployment numbers and battered economy leave them unwilling to waste time courting Republican support or curbing the size of the package. The bill would offer money for vaccines, help reopen schools and give $1,400 direct payments to most Americans. Biden has been appealing directly to Republican and Democratic lawmakers while signaling his priority to press ahead.
January 29, 2021 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers face threats of violence from an “enemy” within Congress and more money is needed to protect them. The California Democrat’s remarks are a startling acknowledgement of how internal tensions over safety have escalated since the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Pelosi told reporters on Thursday that Congress should provide more money to protect lawmakers “when the enemy is within the House of Representatives.” Pelosi said she was referring to members of Congress who want to bring guns on the House floor and “have threatened violence on other members of Congress.” She didn’t offer names.
January 29, 2021 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Facing a deep, pandemic-inflicted budget deficit, Gov. Tom Wolf will ask lawmakers for billions of dollars funded by higher taxes on Pennsylvania’s huge natural gas industry for workforce development and employment assistance to help the state recover. Wolf said Thursday the money would aid workers whose jobs were upended by the pandemic. Wolf, a Democrat, also wants lawmakers to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage. Wolf is scheduled to issue his full budget proposal Tuesday to the Legislature. He is counting on the federal government for more coronavirus recovery aid to help fill the state’s projected budget deficit. Wolf is also entering the lame-duck stretch of his final term, when Republican legislators may be less interested in helping his agenda.
January 29, 2021 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH — Washington County State Representative Tim O’Neal wants the Pennsylvania National Guard to help distribute and administer the COVID-19 vaccine. O’Neal is asking other lawmakers to co-sponsor his resolution. If passed, the bill would require the National Guard to have a vaccination site up and running in every county in the state within 45 days. The Guard would be required to support local health officials with transporting the vaccine. “The guard has the infrastructure, human capital and logistics to support an efficient, timely vaccination program,” O’Neal said in a news release. O’Neal tells WJPA news that he hopes the measure will move to the senate by the week of February 22 and be on Governor Wolf’s desk by March 1. He says the governor’s office has said they are open to the idea.
January 29, 2021 2:37 am
Sherman Springer, known as “Detroit Shawn,” was arrested Wednesday in Monongahela, Pennsylvania on drug charges. According to investigators, Springer was charged with drug delivery resulting in death in connection with a situation where a person died of an overdose in April 2020 in Washington. Springer allegedly sold the narcotics to the overdose victim. The U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force found out Springer was staying in Monongahela and were able to arrest him in the 100 block of Greenridge Drive.
January 29, 2021 2:12 am
The Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency will be awarding more than $93,000 in tourism grants to public and private organizations. The money will be used for capital and marketing projects for the 2021 tourism season. Agency President Jeff Kotula says the capital projects total nearly $28-thousand, including 10-thousand dollars each to Mingo Creek Craft Distillers and Mon Valley Alliance. Under the marketing umbrella, Kotula indicated the Washington Wild Things received the largest allocation of $13-thousand, Little Lake Theater received $9-thousand, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and Family Festivals Association each received 75-hundred dollars. Kotula says the coronavirus pandemic slowed the growth of the county’s tourism industry but he’s confident that they will be able to recover.
January 28, 2021 2:40 pm
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa has been found in the United States for the first time. South Carolina officials say two such cases have been diagnosed in the state. Viruses mutate constantly, and many variants of the coronavirus are circulating around the globe, but scientists are primarily concerned with three that appear to spread more easily. Other variants first reported in the United Kingdom and Brazil were already confirmed in the U.S. Researchers predicted it was only a matter of time before the variant identified in South Africa reached the United States as well.
January 28, 2021 2:36 pm
GAINESVILLE, Ga, (AP) – A liquid nitrogen leak at a northeast Georgia poultry plant has killed six people, with multiple others taken to the hospital. A spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Health System said five people died Thursday at the Gainesville plant before they could be taken to the hospital and one person died in the emergency room. Hall County Fire Department Division Chief Zach Brackett says the leak happened after 10 a.m. at Prime Pak Foods. He said firefighters arrived to find workers milling around outside, some with injuries. At least four firefighters were also injured and taken to the Gainesville hospital with what Brackett described as respiratory complaints.
January 28, 2021 2:34 pm
There will be no St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh this March. Organizers announced Thursday that the parade, scheduled for March 13th, will be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and continued health concerns surrounding large gatherings. There may be a parade though. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee says it is working with the City of Pittsburgh to identify a date in the latter half of 2021 when a parade can safely be celebrated.
January 28, 2021 9:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a historically high 847,000 last week, a sign that layoffs remain high as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage. The Labor Department said Thursday that last week’s claims were down by 67,000 from 914,000 the week before. Before the virus hit the United States hard last March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000.Overall, nearly 4.8 million Americans are continuing to receive traditional state unemployment benefits. That is down from a staggering peak of nearly 25 million in May when the virus – and lockdowns and other measures to contain it – brought economic activity to a near halt.
