July 2, 2020 10:31 am
President Donald Trump says the positive jobs report shows the U.S. economy is “roaring back” from the coronavirus. U.S. employers added a substantial 4.8 million jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1% as the job market improved for the second straight month. However, the economy remains far short of regaining the colossal losses it suffered in the spring during the coronavirus outbreak. Trump says there are still areas where “we’re putting out the flames” of the virus. Many states, especially in the South and West, are experiencing spikes in coronavirus cases and leading some governors to slow the pace of reopening their economies.
July 2, 2020 9:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers added a substantial 4.8 million jobs in June, and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%, as the job market improved for a second straight month yet remained far short of regaining the colossal losses it suffered this spring. The nation has now recovered roughly one-third of the 22 million jobs it lost to the pandemic recession. And with confirmed coronavirus cases spiking across the Sun Belt states, a range of evidence suggests that a job market recovery may be stalling. In those states and elsewhere, some restaurants, bars and other retailers that had re-opened are being forced to close again.
July 2, 2020 5:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s high court has ruled against an effort by Republican state lawmakers to end Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown orders. A divided court ruled Wednesday that a resolution passed with mostly GOP votes was a “legal nullity” because it wasn’t sent to Wolf to sign or veto. The resolution would have ended Wolf’s emergency disaster declaration that led to the closure of “non-life-sustaining” businesses, bans on large gatherings and orders for people to isolate at home. Two senior Republican senators sued to enforce their resolution, and the high court took up the matter and ruled without hearing oral argument.
July 2, 2020 4:19 am
A status hearing update in front of Judge Michael Lucas for repairs to a storm drain along W. Chestnut Street brought about a new plan of repairs. An emergency injunction ordered by Lucas required all parties related to a collapsed storm sewer line meet and devise an appropriate plan of repair of an approximate 20 foot section of collapsed pipe. Parties from the Rite Aid drug store and Guttman Energy that own the Marathon Gas station devised a repair plan ordered by Lucas but representatives from Orion Development and Access Real Estate that are responsible for the Rite Aid property approached the court with a devised plan to bypass the existing pipeline and totally replace the storm sewer system from the edge of the property that a Bob Evans Restaurant sits on, all the way through to a tie in on Franklin Farms Road. Representatives indicate that the new design will be more expensive but a longer lasting solution to just the repair ordered by Lucas. Lucas continued the decision to allow all property owners to agree to final details of the plan. Because negotiations had been very unproductive in the past, Lucas offered an independent intermediary to aid in the final negotiations. Neither party felt that was necessary. Lucas left the offer on the table saying the first hint of trouble he will appoint the third party. The final decision on the project will be rendered July 24 at 10:00 AM.
July 2, 2020 4:04 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden outpaced President Donald Trump’s campaign fundraising juggernaut in June and in the second quarter of this election year, continuing a stunning reversal of fortune from his threadbare primary campaign. The former vice president’s spokesman said Tuesday night that Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised $141 million in June, bringing their second-quarter total to more than $282 million. Republicans announced earlier Tuesday that Trump and the national GOP had raised $131 million in June and $266 million for the quarter. The president’s reelection effort still had nearly $300 million cash on hand at the end of June, the campaign says.
July 2, 2020 4:01 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A New York appeals court has cleared the way for a publisher to distribute a tell-all book by President Donald Trump’s niece over the objections of the president’s brother. The New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division issued the written decision late Wednesday. The appeals court lifted a restraint that a judge put on Simon & Schuster that sought to block its distribution. But it left in place restraints against Mary Trump. She’s the author of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.” The publisher, Simon & Schuster, and a lawyer for Mary Trump praised the ruling. An email seeking comment was sent to a lawyer for Robert Trump, who sued Mary Trump.
July 2, 2020 4:00 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican authorities say gunmen burst into an unregistered drug rehabilitation center in central Mexico and opened fire, killing 24 people and wounding seven. Police in the north-central state of Guanajuato said the attack occurred Wednesday in the city of Irapuato. Three of the seven wounded were reported in serious condition. Apparently the attackers shot everyone at the rehab center. State police say nobody was abducted. Guanajuato is the scene of a bloody turf battle between the Jalisco cartel and a local gang. No motive was given in the attack, but Mexican drug gangs have killed street-level dealers at such facilities in the past.
July 2, 2020 3:59 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California has reversed course on its economic reopening as cases of the coronavirus surge. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday shut down bars, movie theaters and indoor eating at restaurants for three weeks across 19 counties that have 72% of the state’s population. That closes many businesses that only were allowed to reopen a few weeks ago. Health officials say many people who visited these places or held indoor gatherings didn’t follow social distancing or mask-wearing rules designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. In the past two weeks, confirmed cases in California have jumped by 45% and hospitalizations have soared.
July 2, 2020 3:58 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Hugh Downs, a genial and near-constant presence on television from the 1950s through the 1990s, has died. His family said Downs died of natural causes Wednesday night in Scottsdale, Arizona. Downs was a host of the ‘Today” show on NBC, worked on the “Tonight” show when Jack Paar was in charge, and hosted the long-running game show “Concentration.” He co-hosted the ABC newsmagazine ’20/20’ with Barbara Walters. Until surpassed by Regis Philbin, he had the Guinness Book of World Records mark for most hours logged on television. Downs also hosted the PBS series “Over Easy” and “Live from Lincoln Center.” (Photo: CNN)
July 2, 2020 3:57 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Los Angeles leaders have voted to slash the Police Department budget by $150 million. The City Council approved the change Wednesday that will reduce the number of LAPD officers to a level not seen for more than a decade and provide services and programs for communities of color. It comes amid nationwide demands to shift money away from law enforcement agencies during America’s reckoning over police brutality and racial injustice. Other cities around the country also have cut police budgets or are moving to do so. New York City lawmakers shifted $1 billion from policing to education and social services in the coming year.
