October 9, 2021 5:12 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Cruise ships are returning to San Francisco after a 19-month hiatus brought on by the pandemic in what the city’s mayor says is sure to be a boost to its economy. Mayor London Breed announced Friday the Majestic Princess will sail into the port of San Francisco on Monday. It’s the first cruise ship to dock in the San Francisco Bay Area since March 2020, when the Grand Princess captured the world’s attention. The ship was carrying people infected with the coronavirus, and thousands on board were quarantined as it idled off the California coast. The port of San Francisco expects to welcome 21 cruise ships through the remainder of the year.
October 9, 2021 5:10 am
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Coast Guard investigators say an underwater Southern California oil pipeline was likely struck by an anchor several months to a year before a leak spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude. The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that a large ship may have snagged the pipeline off Huntington Beach, but that incident might not have actually fractured the pipe. Capt. Jason Neubauer said other ships’ anchors may have struck the pipe later. The pipeline was dragged along the sea floor and ultimately ruptured, sending oil into the ocean that came ashore on some of Southern California’s signature beaches.
October 9, 2021 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not again help Democrats extend the government’s borrowing authority. His warning raises fresh doubts about how Congress will avert a federal default when a temporary patch expires in December. The Kentucky Republican issued his warning in a letter to President Joe Biden a day after the Senate approved a $480 billion boost in the federal debt limit, enough to last about two months. McConnell was among 11 GOP senators who provided decisive support Thursday for a procedural move that opened the door for subsequent Senate passage of that measure with only Democratic support.
October 9, 2021 5:08 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A federal appeals court is temporarily allowing the nation’s toughest abortion law to resume in Texas. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed down the order Friday night. It comes just one day after a lower court in Austin sided with the Biden administration and suspended the Texas law known as Senate Bill 8. The law prohibits abortions in Texas once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks. That is before some women even know they’re pregnant. The New Orleans-based appeals court granted an emergency order that puts the law back in place for now, pending a review of the state’s appeal.
October 9, 2021 5:05 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The death toll continues to surge from the coronavirus pandemic in West Virginia. According to state health data, there were at least 115 new virus deaths reported during the first seven days of October. It follows a September toll of about 600 deaths – more than the four previous months combined. The state is on pace to surpass 4,000 total deaths from the pandemic next week. There are signs in other areas that the surge is slowing down. According to health data, the number of people hospitalized from the virus is at its lowest total in a month.
October 9, 2021 5:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The number of vaccinated state prison system employees has nearly doubled in the two months since Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf mandated vaccines or weekly testing to help contain the coronavirus. It’s a policy prison guards challenged in court, but a state judge last week threw out the case. The Corrections Department said Friday more than 6,700 workers have now been vaccinated. That’s nearly 43% of the total and an increase from about 3,600 in early August. The prison agency says thousands of tests have been performed since the vax-or-test mandate went into effect Sept.
October 8, 2021 3:45 pm
The number of vaccinated state prison system employees has nearly doubled in the two months since Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf mandated vaccines or weekly testing to help contain the coronavirus. It’s a policy prison guards challenged in court, but a state judge last week threw out the case. The Corrections Department said Friday more than 6,700 workers have now been vaccinated. That’s nearly 43% of the total and an increase from about 3,600 in early August. The prison agency says thousands of tests have been performed since the vax-or-test mandate went into effect Sept. 7.
October 8, 2021 3:12 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) –
President Joe Biden is not asserting executive privilege over a series of documents sought by a House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. This sets up a showdown with former President Donald Trump, who has pledged to try to block records from his time in the White House from being turned over to investigators. In a letter to the Archivist of the United States, White House counsel Dana Remus writes that Biden has determined that invoking executive privilege “is not in the best interests of the United States.” The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Friday, which was first reported by NBC News.
October 8, 2021 2:21 pm
CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. (AP) –
Authorities in Maryland say two staff members have been fatally shot at a senior living facility and one suspect is in custody. Police say it happened Friday morning at the National Church Residences Gateway Village in Capitol Heights. Police said both victims were women, one found in a hallway and another in an office. A resident of the complex says the shooter is his friend, a man who said he was fed up with how senior citizens were being treated there. The company running the facility says they’re heartbroken that two staff members were killed.
October 8, 2021 2:11 pm
KITTANNING, Pa. (AP) – A former Pennsylvania police chief has pleaded guilty to failing to properly register as a sex offender. Ex-Leechburg Police Chief Michael Diebold entered the plea Wednesday. The 44-year-old was charged with failing to provide accurate information when he registered as a sex offender. Diebold was previously arrested in a child predator sting for soliciting sex online from a state trooper who posed as a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty in December 2018. Diebold was sentenced to nine to 23 months in jail and three years probation. The former police chief also was required to register as a sex offender and refrain from using the internet for anything other than work.
