May 28, 2020 8:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more businesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees. About 41 million people have now applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March, though not all of them are still unemployed. The Labor Department’s report Thursday includes a count of all the people now receiving unemployment aid: 21 million. That is a rough measure of the number of unemployed Americans. áThe national jobless rate was 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression.
May 28, 2020 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is escalating his war on social media companies, signing an executive order challenging the liability protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet. He declared he was “fed up” with what he considers bias as prepared to sign the order on Thursday. Still, the move appears to be more about politics than substance, as the president aims to rally supporters after he lashed out at Twitter for applying fact checks to two of his tweets. Legal experts have expressed doubts Trump can do much by himself, without an act of Congress. And the order is certain to face legal challenges.
May 28, 2020 4:03 am
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The U.S. has surpassed a jarring milestone in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths. That number Wednesday is the best estimate and most assuredly an undercount. But it represents the stark reality that more Americans have died from the virus than from the Vietnam and Korea wars combined. According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the virus has infected more than 5.6 million people worldwide and killed over 350,000. The U.S. has the most infections and deaths by far. Early on, President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of the coronavirus and predicted the country wouldn’t reach this death toll.
May 28, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan measure to modify a new “paycheck protection” program for businesses that have suffered COVID-related losses. It would give businesses more flexibility to use federal subsidies for other business costs and extend the program for four additional months. Senate passage is likely next week. But talks on a much bigger measure to inject more than $3 trillion more into the economy remain stalled. The Paycheck Protection Program required businesses to spend their loan money within an eight-week window to get the loans forgiven. The new measure gives business owners 24 weeks to spend the federal aid.
May 28, 2020 4:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s capital will begin a gradual reopening Friday, even as Mayor Muriel Bowser warns it probably will result in more coronavirus infections. Restaurants will be permitted to seat guests outdoors. Barbers and hair salons will open. But nail parlors and public playgrounds will remain closed. Nonessential businesses will be allowed to offer curbside or front-door pickup services. Golf courses and tennis courts will reopen and gatherings of up to 10 people will be permitted. Bowser says the public health emergency she declared in March will remain in place.
May 28, 2020 3:58 am
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut State Police say a college student wanted for two slayings in Connecticut has been captured in Maryland. Peter Manfredonia had been the subject of a six-day search involving several police agencies and the FBI. Connecticut State Police say the University of Connecticut senior killed a 62-year-old man and wounded another in northeastern Connecticut on Friday and killed a high school classmate in Derby on Sunday before abducting the man’s girlfriend and driving to New Jersey. Police say Manfredonia was found in the area of a truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland. A lawyer for the suspect’s family, Michael Dolan, said they were relieved the search had ended peacefully.
May 28, 2020 3:57 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Protests rocked Minneapolis for the second straight night Wednesday after a man’s death in police custody. One person was killed in what police were investigating as a homicide amidst violence that included looting and setting fires. The protests began outside the police precinct in the part of the city where 46-year-old George Floyd died on Memorial Day. Four Minneapolis officers were fired after video footage showed one of them kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd’s neck until he became unresponsive. News helicopter footage showed several nearby stores being looted as police encircled the precinct house and made no evident move to intervene.
May 28, 2020 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Roman Catholic diocese of Pittsburgh has announced plans to consolidate 61 parishes into 15 new parishes. The mergers, to be completed July 1, will reduce the number of parishes in the diocese of Pittsburgh from 152 to 106. Bishop David Zubik told parishioners in a letter that “This has not been a simple task” but spoke of the need for sacrifice and said “You are positioning your new parish for more effective ministry by addressing financial needs, sharing resources and allowing your clergy to focus on the spiritual work for which they were ordained.”
May 28, 2020 3:52 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Professional sports can resume in Pennsylvania where the governor’s stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the coronavirus is no longer in force, but without spectators. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Wednesday that teams and competitors will be allowed to practice or play in counties where Wolf’s yellow or green designation applies in his stoplight-colored three-phase reopening plan. To resume, a team or a league must develop a coronavirus safety plan that has been approved by Wolf’s state Department of Health and it must include testing or screening and monitoring of all “on-venue” players and personnel. Organized youth sports can begin or resume in areas in the green phase.
May 28, 2020 2:23 am
In a significant loosening of coronavirus restrictions, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced that restaurants in yellow-phase Pennsylvania counties as of June 5th can begin outdoor dining, with appropriate precautions. Prior to his order, restaurants in yellow-phase counties were only allowed to do take-out and delivery business. Guidance issued by his administration for outdoor dining includes maximum occupancy limits; a requirement that indoors areas remain closed except for “through traffic”; and that customers being served outside must be seated at a table. Currently, 49 counties statewide are in the yellow phase, and 18 of those are set to move to the less-restrictive green phase on Friday.
