January 28, 2021 4:19 am
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) – Apple says it will roll out a new privacy control in the spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people. The delay in its anticipated rollout aims to placate Facebook and other digital services that depend on such data surveillance to help sell ads. Although Apple didn’t provide a specific date, the timetable disclosed Thursday means a feature known as App Tracking Transparency is likely to arrive in March or April. Apple has been holding off to give Facebook and other app makers more time to adjust to a feature that will require iPhone users to give explicit consent before apps can track them.
January 28, 2021 4:16 am
Alabama health officials say the more highly transmissible COVID-19 variant seen in the United Kingdom has been found in the state. The Alabama Department of Public Health said the variant is thought to be more contagious. It is the first time the variant has been identified in the state, although it has been detected in at least 24 other states. The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in late 2020. Health officials said the variant was found in two children and one adult in Alabama. Two cases are in Montgomery County and one is in Jefferson.
January 28, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has rescinded a regulation that barred U.S. foreign aid from being used to perform or promote abortions. The move comes just a week after he was inaugurated and fulfills his campaign pledge to reverse a policy that previous Republican presidents, including Donald Trump, have instated immediately on taking office. The so-called Mexico City policy or Global Gag Rule, has been a political ping-pong ball for decades, bouncing back and forth between Republican and Democratic presidents since it was first enacted in 1985. Critics say it hurts women’s reproductive health care and contributes to poverty worldwide, while supporters argue it is essential to preserve the sanctity of life.
January 28, 2021 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden says “we can’t wait any longer? to address the climate crisis, and that’s driving his ambitious effort to stave off the worst effects of global warming. Biden has issued executive orders to cut oil, gas and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind turbines. The orders target federal subsidies for oil and other fossil fuels and halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. But there’s political risk for Biden and Democrats as oil- and coal-producing states face job losses from moves to sharply increase U.S. reliance on clean energy.
January 28, 2021 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Homeland Security Department has issued a national terrorism bulletin warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election. The bulletin suggests the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks. The department isn’t citing a specific threat. But DHS points to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden took office. The wording suggests national security officials see a thread between recent violence over the past year motivated by anti-government grievances, whether over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results or police use of force.
January 28, 2021 4:10 am
WUHAN, China (AP) – A World Health Organization team has emerged from quarantine in the Chinese city of Wuhan to start field work in a fact-finding mission on the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers could be seen leaving their hotel and boarding a bus on Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t immediately clear where they were going. They were required to complete 14 days quarantine in the hotel after their arrival in China. The mission has become politically charged, as China seeks to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak.
January 28, 2021 4:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania voters will be having the final say on a proposal by legislative Republicans to limit the governor’s powers during a disaster emergency. The House on Wednesday gave its OK to a proposed constitutional amendment that will cap disaster declarations at 21 days unless lawmakers extend them. It would also give lawmakers the ability to end a disaster declaration with a two-thirds vote. It’s expected to be on the ballot for the May 18 primary. Legislative Republicans have repeatedly tried to overturn pandemic response policies undertaken by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf over the past year. Because the two chambers have passed separate bills, one more vote in the House is expected on the Senate version before it’s considered approved.
January 28, 2021 2:46 am
Washington City Police have confirmed that authorities have found the stolen black BMW that was used by the suspect who is wanted in a deadly shooting in Washington and another shooting in Donora on Wednesday. Washington Police Sgt. Jack Hancock tells WJPA that the car was found abandoned on Main Street in West Alexander. No further information was available. Police continue their search for 36-year-old Zackory Sadler of Donora (pictured), who is believed to have shot and killed 41-year-old Darnell Steven Brown in the parking lot outside of the Dollar Store on Highland Avenue in Washington around 4:30 p.m. Police said it appears the shooting was targeted. Brown’s girlfriend and her six children, all under the age of 9, were in an SUV at the time of the shooting. According to police, the suspect, 36-year-old Zackory Sadler, and Brown’s girlfriend have a child together. Children of both Sadler and Brown were in the SUV. Brown was shot as he walked out of the dollar store. Police said Sadler was waiting for him and fired at least two rounds from a car, one of which hit Brown in the head. A second shooting was being investigated in Donora on Heslep Avenue, nearly 30 miles away. It happened at the house of an ex-girlfriend of Sadler. A man was shot in the leg and foot. Authorities say the man was flown from the scene around the same time the situation unfolded in Washington. Washington police have charged Sadler with criminal homicide, seven counts of recklessly endangering another person, former convict not to possess a firearm and firearm not to be carried without a license. Police say Sadler has been charged previously with violent crimes.
January 28, 2021 2:34 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Facing a deep, pandemic-inflicted budget deficit, Gov. Tom Wolf will ask lawmakers for a multibillion-dollar investment into workforce development and employment assistance to help Pennsylvania recover. Wolf’s office said Thursday it 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 has said 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 27, 2021 5:37 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The state House has given final approval to a proposal to change the Pennsylvania constitution to give alleged victims of child sexual abuse a retroactive two-year “window” in which to file civil lawsuits no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred. It passed the state House on Wednesday, leaving only one more vote in the Senate and approval in a public referendum before it can become law. State representatives voted 187 to 15 for the constitutional amendment. If the Senate follows suit, it could be on the ballot for the May 18 primary.
