June 27, 2020 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — More than 100 people gathered in East Liberty Friday afternoon for a protest supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Protesters were standing and chanting at the corner of Penn Avenue and Centre Avenue — outside the Target store where violence broke out on June 1 following another protest. After about 30 minutes, the crowd moved into the intersection, forming a circle and blocking the roadway to traffic. The crowd started marching down Centre Avenue around 4:30 p.m., with police in front and behind blocking traffic as they moved. Protesters marched to the intersection of Centre Avenue and South Negley Avenue and stopped for a while, which was another spot where police and protesters had a standoff on June 1. It was that location where police admitted gas was used to disperse people from that intersection. At 7 p.m., the crowd marched back to the starting point at the intersection of Centre Avenue and Penn Avenue. The protest has remained peaceful. The group dispersed shortly after. Police said there were no incidents or arrests, and all surrounding roads have been reopened.
June 27, 2020 4:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania health officials are taking a deep dive into areas where COVID-19 cases are ticking up and threatening to undo months of progress against the disease. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, said Friday the increases may be due to reopening as well as increased testing. The state will allow Lebanon County, the 67th and final county, to move from the yellow phase to the less-restrictive green phase in a week. The Health Department says there are 600 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the state, the highest total since June 13. Statewide, new case counts grew by 30%, compared with the previous seven-day period.
June 26, 2020 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. officials estimate that 20 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus since it first arrived in the United States, with millions never knowing they had it. Thursday’s estimate is roughly 10 times the 2.3 million cases that have been confirmed in the U.S. The news comes as the Trump administration works to tamp down nationwide concern about the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when about a dozen states are seeing worrisome increases in cases. Twenty million infections means that only about 6% of the nation’s 331 million people have had the virus, leaving the vast majority of the population still susceptible.
June 26, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A government watchdog says nearly 1.1 million relief payments totaling some $1.4 billion went to dead people in the government’s coronavirus aid program. About 160 million so-called economic impact payments were sent to taxpayers as part of the $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief package enacted in March. The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ auditing arm, cites the number of erroneous payments to deceased taxpayers in a new report on the government programs. The IRS asked in May for the money back from the deceased taxpayers’ survivors. Some legal experts have said the government may not have the legal authority to require that it be returned.
June 26, 2020 4:15 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is halting elective surgeries in its biggest counties and says the state would “pause” its aggressive reopening as it deals with a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The move Thursday comes as the number of patients admitted with COVID-19 has more than doubled in just two weeks. Texas has emerged as one of the nation’s biggest coronavirus hotspots, reporting more than 17,000 new cases in the past three days alone. The Republican governor this week has taken a newly urgent tone about the worsening trends and is now telling the public they should stay home. The surgery ban applies to Dallas, Harris, Travis and Bexar counties.
June 26, 2020 4:13 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The company behind Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soap and a host of other consumer products says it will stop advertising on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the U.S. through at least the end of the year because of the amount of hate speech online. Unilever said that the polarized atmosphere in the United States ahead of November’s presidential election placed responsibility on brands to act. The company, which is based in the Netherlands and Britain, joins a raft of other companies halting advertising on online platforms. Facebook in particular has been the target of an escalating movement to siphon away advertising.
June 26, 2020 4:12 am
CARROLLTON, Texas (AP) – A surprise birthday party that resulted in 18 people testing positive for the coronavirus has left a North Texas man horrified as his father continues to fight for his life in the hospital. Ron Barbosa, who refused to attend the May 30 party for his daughter-in-law due to safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, says those hospitalized included his parents, both in their 80’s, and his sister, who is also battling breast cancer.áBarbosa says his nephew, unknowingly infected with the virus, hosted the gathering of 25 people. He says seven of the relatives in attendance subsequently contracted and spread the virus to 10 other family members, including two young children.
June 26, 2020 4:09 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal appeals court has ruled against the Trump administration in its transfer of military money to build sections of the U.S. border wall with Mexico. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that diverting $2.5 from military construction projects to build the wall illegally sidesteps Congress, which gets to decide how to use the funds. The ruling is the latest twist in a legal battle that has largely gone Trump’s way. Last year, the Supreme Court allowed the $2.5 billion to be spent while the litigation continued, blunting the impact of the latest appeals court action.
June 26, 2020 4:05 am
The return to the classroom in the fall will not be an easy task for schools all over the country due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Washington school district superintendent, James Konrad said that the district will follow government guidelines, all based on the Green-Yellow-Red format. Green will be a normal setting, yellow will be a 50/50 hybrid with students splitting time in the classroom, and red will be an all-online system. Konrad explained that everyone needs to be realistic and understand that it is a work in progress as more data is gathered. There will be town hall meetings in July and August for parents and students wanting more information.
June 26, 2020 4:04 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – A comment made on social media has a Trafford Borough council member under fire. Councilman Zack Cole wished Pa. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine a happy Father’s Day on Facebook Sunday, which sparked backlash. Levine is a transgender woman. The comment made by Cole was posted on Gov. Tom Wolf’s Facebook page. He claimed it was just a joke, but that post prompted swift and angry responses. And now many are speaking out. “It’s just hateful. It’s disguised as a joke, but it’s not funny,” said Cora Brna, a transgender advocate. “When you back through history and look at all these acts of violence towards any group, it all starts with words. The rhetoric that words are just words isn’t really entirely true.” A spokesperson for the state health department issued a statement regarding the comment: “Dr. Levine serves the governor and remains laser-focused on protecting the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians as we navigate this ongoing pandemic.” Cole told Channel 11 he didn’t want to comment, but he did post a statement on his Facebook page, saying it wasn’t an apology but that his comment was in bad taste — especially with the position he holds. In that post, Cole said he is angry with how Wolf and Levine have handled the COVID-19 pandemic and won’t adhere to a “politically correct” society.
