August 22, 2020 4:23 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea is banning large gatherings, shutting nightspots and churches and removing fans from professional sports in unprecedented restrictions as it battles the spread of the coronavirus. The health minister announced the steps Saturday shortly after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 332 new cases in the ninth straight day of triple-digit increases. While most of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul area, infections were also reported in practically every major city and town, raising concerns that transmissions are slipping out of control. The government has already imposed elevated social distancing measures in Seoul this week after resisted them for months out of economic concerns.
August 22, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House is convening for a rare Saturday session to address mail delivery disruptions. Democrats are poised to pass legislation to reverse recent changes in postal operations and send emergency funds to help the agency before the November election. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Postal Service will be “election central” as millions of Americans opt for mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans are unlikely to support the bill. They say the postal problems are overblown. President Donald Trump has railed against the idea of wide-scale mail-in voting. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told senators Friday that election mail will arrive on time, but he could not provide a plan.
August 22, 2020 4:20 am
India has recorded another 24-hour jump in coronavirus infections as the disease spreads across the country’s southern states after plateauing in the capital and the financial center of Mumbai. The Health Ministry reported 69,878 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 2,975,701. Globally India has been reporting the biggest daily rise in cases for 18 consecutive days. India has the third-highest caseload after the United States and Brazil, and its 55,794 deaths give it the fourth-highest death toll in the world. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said Friday that the goal was to end the pandemic within two years of its first emergence in Wuhan, China, late last year.
August 22, 2020 4:19 am
MONTFORT, Wis. (AP) – While the fight for northern swing states rages more intensely in the metro areas, a Democratic effort has been going on for months to shave President Donald Trump’s winning margins in pivotal rural and small-town regions. The object is to cut into Trump’s winning margins and raise the stakes for him in the burgeoning suburbs of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville says, “The general theory of the case goes like this: We’re trying not to lose as bad.” He’s helping raise money for Democratic super PAC American Bridge’s 21st Century’s $30 million advertising effort in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
August 22, 2020 4:18 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Firefighters and aircraft from 10 states have begun arriving in California to help weary crews battling some of the largest blazes in state history. But weekend weather is threatening to renew the advance of flames that have killed six people and incinerated hundreds of homes. Some 560 wildfires are burning throughout the state but the most damaging are three clusters of blazes in the San Francisco Bay Area and the wine country. State fire officials say their forces are stretched thin and they’re grateful for reinforcements. They’re hoping to make progress before unsettled weather beginning Sunday brings the threat of lightning strikes that could spark new blazes.
August 22, 2020 4:17 am
Tropical Storm Laura has formed in the eastern Caribbean and forecasters say it could pose a hurricane threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast. And if that’s not enough, Tropical Storm Marco at the other end of the Caribbean may hit the U.S. western Gulf Coast after running across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting both to make it into the Gulf of Mexico next week in what would be an almost simultaneous threat to the entire region. But there’s lots of uncertainty. First, Laura has to survive encounters with Puerto Rico, Hispanola and Cuba. Marco has to cross Yucatan.
August 22, 2020 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — One person has been arrested near Mayor Bill Peduto’s home following a week of protests in his neighborhood. The arrest happened in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood just after 9 p.m. Friday. The neighborhood has been at the center of recent gatherings, focused on the use of force policy within the Pittsburgh Police Department toward protesters. According to police, the man was taken into custody on Edgerton Avenue at Hastings Street after multiple complaints from area residents. The man is facing charges of disorderly conduct and harassment, but investigators said additional charges could follow. Officers also confiscated a megaphone as an “instrument of crime.” On Friday, Peduto announced changes are coming over how police officers respond to protests within the city. There will be a new oversight and command structure for the Police Special Response Teams that are trained in crowd-control measures. However, they will no longer be the primary units to respond to incidents and protests. Arrest tactics similar to what occurred over the weekend, where plainclothes officers emerged from what was called an unmarked vehicle, will no longer be permitted.
August 22, 2020 4:10 am
(WPXI) – More than two dozen people were charged in connection with a fentanyl distribution ring stretching across Pittsburgh’s eastern neighborhoods and into Wilkinsburg, according to FBI and local police officials. Called the “Shot Boyz,” 25 people were charged, according to police. The investigation was a five month wiretap investigation, according to law enforcement. Heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl were seized along with guns and money during the operation. FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Mike Christman called the operation a significant, coordinated effort from federal, state and local officials. The operation to bust the ring included the FBI, ATF, Pittsburgh Police, Latrobe Police, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Munhall Police, Wilkinsburg Police, Monroeville Police and Penn Hills Police among other agencies.
August 21, 2020 12:51 pm
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Six West Virginia University students have been identified as part of an investigation into off-campus parties that were held in violation of school health and safety policies during the coronavirus pandemic. The students face discipline hearings before the Office of Student Conduct. The hearings could lead to sanctions that include probation, suspension or expulsion. At least 107 students, faculty and staff at the university have tested positive for the virus among about 19,300 tests given. Students must take the test before starting classes on campus. In-person classes start Aug. 26 for freshmen, graduate and some professional students, while upperclassmen will start classwork online.
August 21, 2020 12:38 pm
BOSTON (AP) – “Full House” star Lori Loughlin will be sentenced to two months in prison after a judge accepted her plea deal with prosecutors for paying $500,000 in bribes to cheat the college admissions process. Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, was sentenced earlier Friday to five months behind bars for his role in the college admissions bribery scheme. They pleaded guilty in May to paying half a million dollars to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither is a rower. Giannulli told the judge he takes full responsibility for his conduct and regrets the harm it is caused his family.
