July 21, 2020 4:47 pm
UNDATED (AP) – One of Pennsylvania’s most popular fairs is apologizing after a dunk-tank promotion led to accusations of transphobia. The dunk tank featured a man in a dress. The Bloomsburg Fair likened him in a Facebook post to Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who is Pennsylvania’s health secretary. A U.S. senator and other politicians issued statements of condemnation, and some people said they planned to skip this year’s fair in September. Fair officials apologized Tuesday and said they meant no disrespect. Levine is leading the state’s pandemic response and has been subjected to a stream of mockery and abuse.
July 21, 2020 3:24 pm
UNDATED (AP) – New research suggests that antibodies the immune system makes to fight the new coronavirus may only last a few months in people with mild illness. Tuesday’s report in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that about half of antibodies are gone after roughly 10 weeks. However, scientists say this does not mean all protection also is gone or that it won’t be possible to develop an effective vaccine. The immune system remembers how to make fresh antibodies if needed and other parts of it also can mount an attack. Still, the results raise warnings about the notion of herd immunity or immunity passports for people who have survived COVID-19.
July 21, 2020 9:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump took center stage in the federal government’s coronavirus response Tuesday afternoon. That’s after a White House debate over how best to deploy its greatest and most volatile asset – him – played out in public amid the president’s faltering poll numbers. One week after a campaign shake-up, Trump advisers have stressed the urgency of the president adopting a disciplined public agenda in an effort to turn around his lagging performance against Democratic rival Joe Biden. Now, after a three-month hiatus from daily briefings, Trump is set to resume a regular public presence as confirmed coronavirus cases spike nationwide.
July 21, 2020 8:52 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Pennsylvania officials want to squash rumors that some counties will return to the red phase of the state’s COVID-19 reopening plan. The Pennsylvania Department of Health called such rumors “blatantly false,” PennLive reported. Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said it has no idea where the “bad rumors” came from. Right now, all Pennsylvania counties are in the green phase. Pennsylvania has seen an uptick in reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks. The state placed a lot of focus on Allegheny County after a surge in cases started last month. On Monday, 172 new cases were reported — the third straight day under 200.
July 21, 2020 4:07 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – St. Louis’ top prosecutor has told The Associated Press that she’s charging a white husband and wife with felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a racial injustice protest outside their mansion. Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced the charges Monday against Mark and Patricia McCloskey. Both are personal injury attorneys and in their 60s. The McCloskeys’ actions during the June 28 protest drew praise from some who said they were legally defending their $1.15 million home, but scorn from others who said they risked bloodshed. Several hundred protesters were marching to the mayor’s home, just a few blocks away.
July 21, 2020 4:04 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart will close its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs on Thanksgiving Day this year, saying that it wants to have its employees spend time with their families during the coronavirus. The move marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost a decade kicked off with big crowds on the turkey feast and expanded into Friday. However, safety concerns are making stores rethink their plans for the holiday plans. Given Walmart’s clout as the nation’s largest retailer, other major retailers could very well follow its lead. Walmart also said Tuesday that it will be giving out another round of bonuses for workers on the front lines of the coronavirus.
July 21, 2020 4:03 am
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Residents from 31 states must now quarantine for 14 days when arriving in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as dozens of states face rising positive COVID-19 rates. Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged Tuesday that the quarantine is “imperfect” but said the quarantine could help protect the states against the risk of increased spread. The governor’s office said 724 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Monday – a figure that has plunged since the virus peaked in mid-April but has declined at a much slower rate since late June. The percentage of positive results has plateaued around one percent since mid-June, with 1.2% of 66,000 tests conducted Monday coming up positive.
July 21, 2020 4:02 am
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The bosses of major airlines are urging the U.S. and the European Union to reopen transatlantic air travel. And they say that the way to do that is with a new testing program for COVID-19. The CEOs of United, American, IAG and Germany’s Lufthansa say it’s an urgent matter to get a vital business pathway running again. In a letter Tuesday to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, the executives say transatlantic flights are crucial to the recovery and to their businesses. They say a joint U.S.-EU testing program would enhance safety and confidence so flights can resume.
July 21, 2020 4:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer has sued Attorney General William Barr and the Bureau of Prisons director, saying he’s being unjustly held behind bars to stop him from finishing a book that criticizes Trump. The lawsuit on behalf of Michael Cohen was filed late Monday in Manhattan federal court, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated when he was returned to prison on July 9. Cohen was furloughed in May as part of an attempt to slow the spread of the virus in federal prisons. He had served only a year of his three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes. A message for comment was left with the Justice Department.
July 21, 2020 3:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is planning to deploy federal agents to Chicago and possibly other Democrat-run cities as he continues to assert federal power and use the Department of Homeland Security in unprecedented ways. DHS is planning to deploy about 150 Homeland Security Investigations agents to Chicago to help local law enforcement deal with a spike in crime, according to an official with direct knowledge of the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The agents, which are generally used to conduct investigations into human trafficking, drugs and weapons smuggling, were expected to stay in Chicago at least two months.
