December 22, 2020 4:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) – This is the deadliest year in U.S. history, with deaths topping 3 million for the first time. It’s due mainly to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 320,000 Americans, and counting. Final mortality data for this year will not be available for months. But preliminary data suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019. The increase would be about 15%, and possibly more. As a percentage increase, that would mark the largest single-year jump since 1918.
December 22, 2020 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress has easily passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package. It promises to deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Lawmakers tacked on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill and thousands of pages of other end-of-session business to create a massive bundle of bipartisan legislation. The bill passed both the House and Senate in rapid succession Monday night and has been sent to President Donald Trump for his signature, expected in the coming days.
December 22, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell for a seventh straight month in November, dipping below the national rate, as payrolls continued to rebound from pandemic-driven shutdowns. That’s according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 6.6% in November, down eight-tenths of a percentage point. The national rate was 6.7% in November. In a survey of households, the state’s labor force shrank by an estimated 40,000 in November, closer to 6.3 million. Payrolls in Pennsylvania grew in November, by a projected 21,000. Pennsylvania has now regained about 57% of the 1.1 million jobs lost since mid-March, according to state figures.
December 22, 2020 3:28 am
A “Rights For Restaurants” rally was held on Monday afternoon. Rod Ambrogi, owner of Al’s Cafe in Bethel Park hosted the event. He said that there were probably 100 people in attendance. Attendees included state and local governmental officials including commissioners from Washington County. Ambrogi says that he would like Governor Wolf to listen to what they have to say. Ambrogi states that restaurants understand the dangers of the coronavirus but they are doing their best to comply with CDC guidelines with regard to sanitization, social distancing and mask wearing. Ambrogi wants restaurants to unify against Wolf’s mandate that closes restaurants to indoor dining. Ambrogi says that he was visited by board of health officials and was told to close down but he refused. He wants to try and keep his employees working.
December 22, 2020 2:23 am
WJPA received an update from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office with regards to the fatal pedestrian accident on rt. 40 back on December 9. That accident involved a Washington County detective. That detective’s name was never revealed. The Washington County District Attorney turned the investigation over to the attorney general immediately. WJPA reached out to the attorney general’s office and in an email response they stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
December 22, 2020 2:19 am
A Fayette County man was sentenced to a state correctional facility for his guilty plea on one felony count of drug delivery resulting in death. Jeffery Horabik, 34 of Redstone Twp. admitted to selling heroin laced with fentanyl to James Dunn of South Strabane Twp. back in October 2018. Judge Gary Gilman sentenced Horabik to 5-10 years in state prison.
December 21, 2020 6:54 am
The Washington Health System expects to receive some two-thousand doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week. President and CEO Brook Ward says they will vaccinate any health care worker that wants to receive it. Ward says they will be following all CDC distribution guidelines including those that live at nursing home and in long-term care facilities. In a video posted on Facebook, Ward says it is unclear when the vaccine will become available to the general public. He is also advising residents to avoid any gatherings outside of immediate households during the holidays. According to Ward, “We all want to get together like we have for decades with our family, friends and loved ones but one meal, one gathering, one social event is not worth risking the lives of your friends and family. So, I encourage you to avoid doing that this December”.
December 21, 2020 4:25 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced new social gathering restrictions while still refusing to implement a mask mandate despite pleas from front-line healthcare workers in a state experiencing the highest new cases per capita in the country. Instead of a mask mandate, the Republican on Sunday signed an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people. However, places of worship, weddings and funerals are exempt from the order. He called the state “ground zero” in the COVID-19 battle.
December 21, 2020 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden will receive his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe. Monday’s event will come the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, joins Pfizer’s in the nation’s arsenal. Top government leaders including Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were given doses Friday. But missing from the action has been President Donald Trump, who has not said when he intends to get the shot.
December 21, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Top negotiators in Congress have sealed a deal on $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package. Lawmakers announced the agreement Sunday after days of negotiations, and passage by Congress is expected Monday. The agreement would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefits and $600 direct stimulus payments to most Americans, along with a fresh round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and funding for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction. The final agreement was reached after a breakthrough over Federal Reserve emergency powers was resolved by the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.
