July 17, 2020 4:01 am
The McGuffey School Board met for over two and a half hours taking care of day to day business and pondering and debating what school will look like when classes start on August 27. Director Zonie Jackson led the Committee Meeting by asking questions that she received since a public zoom meeting and parent survey were completed. A question about a full five day week for students was deemed not possible due to lack of space required by social distancing guidelines. Internet connectivity is being addressed with a grant for jet pack acquisition through grants and available hot spots. Students can connect at the school buildings and teachers will do their best to download information on laptops so that the need for connectivity will be limited. What the school week work load will look like is still under development but what was ironed out is that students will attend school in the buildings two days a week and use remote learning the other three. In the business portion of the meeting, the district’s real estate tax assessment appeals program passed on a roll call vote 6-3. At issue for dissenters is the fact that if the school district appeals the assessment of a recently purchased home for the new sales price, that could make the home unaffordable to a new owner. McGuffey uses this practice to keep tax revenue balanced with the up to date purchase prices of homes in the school district. The practice has been used since the countywide reassessment back in 2017.
July 17, 2020 3:57 am
Gov. Tom Wolf has announced $50 million in grant funding is now available for employers to provide hazard pay to employees in life-sustaining industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the fight against COVID-19, our front-line workers have put themselves at risk every day in order to continue to provide life-sustaining services to their fellow Pennsylvanians, and this funding will increase their pay in recognition of those sacrifices,” said Gov. Wolf. “These grants will help businesses retain employees, ensure that Pennsylvanians keep working and avoid disruption of critical goods and services.” The grant fund was created through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Grant funds may be used for hazard pay for direct, full-time and part-time employees earning less than $20/hour, excluding fringe benefits and overtime for the 10-week period from August 16, 2020, to October 24, 2020. Applicants may apply for up to $1,200 per eligible full-time equivalent (FTE) employee. Employers may apply for a grant to provide hazard pay for up to 500 eligible full-time equivalent employees per location.
July 17, 2020 2:58 am
In a split vote, Washington County Commissioners on Thursday approved a ninety-thousand-dollar contract with JLL Commercial Real Estate of Pittsburgh, to advise them on the feasibility of purchasing the Crossroads Center office building at the corner of West Beau and North Franklin Streets. Commissioner’s Chairperson, Diana Irey-Vaughan says a study showed that it would cost more than ten-million-dollars to make necessary repairs on the Courthouse Square building and as good stewards for the taxpayers, there was no way to justify that expense. If the purchase of the Crossroads building goes through, Irey-Vaughan says the Courthouse Square building would be demolished. Irey-Vaughan says they hope to make a decision within the next three months. Democrat Larry Maggi cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he is concerned about making this kind of move in the midst of a pandemic. He says he also believes that repairs to the Courthouse Square building would be far less than ten-million-dollars, but he says he also believes the matter is a foregone conclusion.
July 17, 2020 2:44 am
HARRISBURG (AP) – The state released updated guidance on Thursday to help Pre-K to 12 schools prepare to reopen and safely educate students for in-person learning. It was announced by Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera. Each school entity will determine if classes resume in person, remotely or a combination of both options, according to the state.
- Masks must be worn by students and staff at school and on the bus as required by the order signed by Sec. of Health Dr. Levine on July 1, with some exceptions. Masks can be removed to eat or drink.
- Students or caregivers should do a daily symptom screening before leaving for school.
- Students, teachers and other staff are strongly encouraged to follow social distancing throughout the day with 6 feet of separation between desks and other seating.
- If possible, hold classes in gyms, auditoriums, other large spaces or outdoors, where physical distancing can be maintained.
- Student seating should be facing in the same direction.
- Limit student interactions by staggering class times, creating one-way walking patterns in hallways, and, when feasible, keeping students in a classroom and rotating teachers instead.
- For breakfast and lunch, consider serving individually packaged meals in classrooms and avoid across-the-table seating. If meals are served in a cafeteria, sit students at least 6 feet apart.
- Limit the number of students on playgrounds at one time and encourage social distancing.
- Encourage the use of virtual gatherings, events, and extracurricular activities.
The guidance for school sports is unchanged. Coaches, athletes, and spectators must wear masks unless they can maintain 6 feet of separation outdoors. Athletes can remove masks during a workout or competition.
July 16, 2020 5:48 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal ban on cruise ships operating in U.S. territory is being extended through September. The ban was due to expire next week, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the extension on Thursday. The move comes as coronavirus cases are rising in 40 states. Florida, where many cruises start, just had a single-day record of deaths from COVID-19. Major cruise lines that belong to an industry trade group had already canceled sailings until Sept. 15 because of ongoing discussions with federal officials over how to restart operations safely. The companies are trying to save cash and borrow more money to survive the pandemic.
July 16, 2020 12:53 pm
GLEN JEAN, W.Va. (AP) – The Boy Scouts of America have postponed next year’s National Jamboree due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The organization shared its disappointment about cancelling the quadrennial event for 2021 on its website. The announcement says the pandemic’s persistence and unpredictability make it impossible for the Boy Scouts to comply with their “Be Prepared” motto. The Jamboree had been expected to run from July 21-30, 2021 at Summit Bechtel in West Virginia, where nearly 40,000 scouts gathered in 2017. Officials say a task force will be appointed to recommend a new date.
July 16, 2020 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is comparing President Donald Trump to “the man who refuses to ask for directions.” She is pleading with the White House to seek input from the nation’s scientific leaders to reverse the rise in coronavirus cases and deaths. Tensions are rising as Congress considers the next virus relief package with no apparent endgame in sight to the pandemic that now threatens longer-term economic and societal turmoil that first envisioned. Senate Republicans are poised to come out with their next COVID-19 aid bill as early as next week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is readying the GOP’s $1 trillion package, a counteroffer to the $3 trillion proposal that House Democrats approved in May.
July 16, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s plans for a grand convention keep shrinking. The Republican National Committee says it’s sharply restricting attendance on three of the four nights of its convention in Jacksonville, Florida, next month as coronavirus cases are spiking in the state. Party leader Ronna McDaniel says only the roughly 2,500 regular delegates to the convention will be permitted to attend the first three nights. Delegates, their guests and alternate delegates will be allowed for the final night, Aug. 27, when Trump is set to deliver his acceptance speech. The GOP moved the convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, after Charlotte officials ruled out a full-capacity crowd because of the pandemic.
July 16, 2020 4:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Hospital data related to the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. will now be collected by a private technology firm, rather than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Trump administration says the move will speed up reporting, and the CDC director said Wednesday that he’s fine with the change. But some public health leaders fear it will further sideline the agency. Department of Health and Human Services officials recently posted a document on the agency’s website that redirected hospitals’ daily reporting of a range of data meant to assess the impact of the coronavirus on them. TeleTracking Technologies, based in Pittsburgh, will now collect that information.
July 16, 2020 4:06 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has become the first major economy to grow since the start of the coronavirus pandemic after anti-virus lockdowns were lifted and factories and stores reopened. The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 3.2% over a year earlier in the quarter ending in June. That was a dramatic improvement over the previous quarter’s 6.8% contraction that was China’s worst performance since at least the mid-1960s. But it still was the weakest positive figure since China started reporting quarterly growth in the early 1990s. China, where the coronavirus pandemic began in December, was the first economy to shut down and the first to start the drawn-out process of recovery in March after the ruling Communist Party declared the disease under control.
