June 11, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says he’s planning to hold his first rally of the coronavirus era on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And he says he’s planning more events in Florida, Texas and Arizona as well. Trump made the announcement during a roundtable with African American supporters Wednesday afternoon. His signature rallies often draw tens of thousands of people but have been on hiatus since March 2 because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now killed more than 110,000 people in the U.S. The rally will take place on Juneteenth, the commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Tulsa has its own troubling history on race.
June 11, 2020 4:17 am
One of four police officers charged in the death of George Floyd has posted bail and is out of jail. Online records show that 37-year-old Thomas Lane posted bail of $750,000 and was released from Hennepin County Jail, with conditions, shortly after 4 p.m. Records show the other three officers remain in custody. Lane is charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in the arrest of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis while in police custody. Lane’s attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
June 11, 2020 4:16 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Buffalo’s mayor has announced several changes to police practices amid widespread calls for racial equality and police accountability. Mayor Byron Brown says the city will halt arrests for low-level, non-violent offenses like marijuana possession and make it easier for the public to view police body camera video under reforms announced Wednesday. The city also will replace its police Emergency Response Team with a new “Public Protection Unit” after two members of the former unit were videotaped shoving a 75-year-old protester, who fell and cracked his head. The protester remains hospitalized and the officers are facing felony charges.
June 11, 2020 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Amazon says it will ban police use of its facial recognition technology for a year in order to give Congress time to come up with ways to regulate the technology. The Seattle-based company did not say why it was doing so, but ongoing protests after the death of George Floyd have focused attention on racial injustice and how police use technology to track people. Amazon’s announcement comes a day after IBM said it would get out of the facial recognition business, concerned about how the technology can be used for mass surveillance and racial profiling.
June 11, 2020 4:14 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Arizona hospitals that are expected to be able to treat new cases of coronavirus without going into crisis mode were above 80% capacity as the state becomes a hotspot. The milestone should trigger an automatic end to elective surgeries at affected hospitals. Wednesday’s report from the Department of Health Services comes as the state deals with a surge in virus cases and hospitalizations that experts say is likely tied to Gov. Doug Ducey’s ending of statewide closure orders in mid-May. Ducey has been criticized for not adding requirements that could prevent a surge, and some say the time to put those measures in place has come.
June 11, 2020 4:13 am
HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii Gov. David Ige extended the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arriving travelers on Wednesday in a bid to keep coronavirus cases in the islands low. Ige said the rule is being extended to the end of July as the state works to solidify a screening process that could soon allow travelers to return in some capacity. Officials said they are planning to install thermal screening stations with facial recognition in the airports by the end of the year. Hawaii has among the lowest COVID-19 infection and mortality rates in the nation. Ige enacted a mandatory self-quarantine for all arriving tourists and residents in March. Some violators of the quarantine rules have been charged.
June 11, 2020 4:12 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Protesters have torn down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis along Richmond, Virginia’s famed Monument Avenue. News outlets report that the statue in the former capital of the Confederacy was toppled shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday. Richmond police were on the scene and videos on social media showed the monument being towed away as a crowd cheered.About 80 miles away, protesters in Portsmouth beheaded and then pulled down four statues that were part of a Confederate monument on Wednesday. The actions come amid national protests over the death of George Floyd who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck.
June 11, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence will make an appearance at a manufacturing plant near Pittsburgh on Friday as part of a new campaign effort showcasing the nation’s economy making a comeback. President Donald Trump had planned to run for reelection on the back of a strong economy, a hope dashed by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic devastation, including a soaring unemployment rate. But he seized on a better-than-expected jobs report released last week, and his campaign quickly made an ad proclaiming “the great American comeback has begun.”
June 11, 2020 3:50 am
In their first meeting with a limited number of residents allowed to attend, Monessen City Council picked up right where they left off before the Covid-19 pandemic shut meetings down to public attendance. Councilwoman Lois Thomas waited until the very end of the meeting to address accusations made about her by City Administrator John Harhai in an executive session held after a workshop last week. Thomas addressed claims by Harhai that she met privately with a Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge in late 2018 before her appointment as councilwoman. Thomas called the accusation a bald faced lie. Thomas went on to tell of a physical attack of Councilman Tony Orzechowki. The ordeal lasted nearly 20 minutes with audience members asking Harhai for his response. He had none. Thomas called on council to change and practice new ways of thinking or Monessen will remain the laughing stock of the Mon Valley. In matters directly related to city business, council authorized a Police Accountability and Affairs Board made up of four appointed citizens and the Mayor. Council voted down a measure to repeal an ordinance to bring accountability to council members and their duties. The current ordinance allows for fines for city employees and council who do not carry out their responsibilities to attend council meetings. The motion failed 3-2 and council will look to draft an ordinance that will be stricter and carry heavier fines.
June 11, 2020 3:46 am
Charleroi Council has voted to censure one of their members. At Wednesday’s meeting, Councilwoman Jeannine Motycki motioned to censure fellow Councilwoman, Jody Cheplic for “improper actions against a council person.” Motycki claims that Cheplic will not leave alone the fact that Motycki has not paid the borough $250 for a training class registration fee that she failed to complete due to health issues. Motycki claims she has the means to pay the borough, but chooses not to because she “doesn’t have to.” Motycki says that she made the motion to censure after a right-to-know request was filed and after a host of social media posts were made about her. In other business, council is looking into downsizing its seven-member board to five members due to a declining population and the lack of contested races within the borough. Council also voted not to hold a fireworks display for the Fourth of July but rather hold fireworks during their Community Days celebration August 15-16, 2020.
