May 7, 2020 4:18 am
MILTON, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say firefighters in the Florida Panhandle are battling wildfires that have forced some 1,600 people to evacuate from their homes. Smoke from the fires caused officials to close a stretch of Interstate 10 in both directions Thursday. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Thursday that no rain is in the forecast and that residents should stay on alert for additional wildfires. She called the situation extremely dangerous and fast-moving. Some of the 1,100 people who were asked to evacuate in Santa Rosa County were allowed back home Thursday. Others will be asked to stay away at least one more night. In Walton County, a 575-acre fire prompted about 500 people to evacuate.
May 7, 2020 4:17 am
China is touting its assistance to countries struck by the coronavirus, saying it has provided direct government aid to 150 nations, including millions of testing kits. In a statement sent to The Associated Press, the foreign ministry said China has been providing within its means, including, 3.3 million testing kits, 2.6 million gowns, 53 million masks and 729 ventilators, among other supplies. China has in part promoted its assistance and role as a source of personal protective equipment as a way to deflect criticism that it delayed reporting information about the outbreak first detected in the central industrial city of Wuhan late last year.
May 7, 2020 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH– The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case challenging Governor Tom Wolf’s shutdown order. The court denied the case Wednesday. The lawsuit was filed by a group of Pa. businesses, spearheaded by local Republican Danny DeVito, who is running for the state house. The request was jointly filed by DeVito’s campaign along with realtor Kathy Gregory, “B and J” Laundry, Blueberry Hill Golf Course and the Caledonia Land Company. They say they believe businesses should reopen now and that if they don’t, they may never recover. Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a similar challenge to the governor’s order.
May 7, 2020 2:57 am
Washington County Commissioners voted 2-1 on Wednesday to join in a lawsuit against Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. Republican commissioners, Chairperson Diana Irey-Vaughan and Nick Sherman voted in favor of proceeding, saying they believe that Wolf and Levine, through their mandates and restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, have been violating citizens constitutional rights. Democrat Larry Maggi cast the lone no vote, saying that if he thought a lawsuit would get the county’s businesses open and residents back to work and the economy going, then he would vote to sue the state and federal government in a minute. Maggi, however, said that this lawsuit, according to most lawyers, will not be successful and could/would take months or even years to be resolved. Maggi says, to date, they don’t know how much the suit will cost taxpayers, but according to Commissioner Sherman, the suit will not cost taxpayers “one dime.” The suit will be filed in U.S. District Court and will proceed, according to Irey-Vaughan, even if Governor Wolf moves Southwestern Pennsylvania into the yellow phase of reopening quickly. Irey-Vaughan says it’s no longer just about reopening business, it’s about violating the fundamental rights of Pennsylvania residents.
May 7, 2020 2:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf has extended a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions by another two months. He said Thursday that residents should not have to worry about losing their homes during the pandemic. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court first suspended evictions in March, but its order is set to expire Monday. Wolf signed an executive order extending the moratorium through July 10. The move was blasted by a board member of one of the state’s largest landlord groups. Meanwhile, the state has reported 310 more virus deaths, bringing the statewide toll to over 4,300.
May 6, 2020 10:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – One day after saying that the COVID-19 task force would be winding down, President Donald Trump says it would continue on indefinitely, but focus on rebooting the economy. Trump’s reversal in a tweet Wednesday comes as deaths in New York, the epicenter of the virus, are declining, but rising in the rest of the United States. A White House official acknowledged Wednesday morning that signaling that the task force was preparing to shut down sent the wrong message and created a media maelstrom. The official said the membership in the group would change as the nature of the crisis evolves.
May 6, 2020 7:54 am
MOSCOW (AP) – Two Russian doctors died and one remains in the intensive care unit in serious condition after falling out of windows in hospitals under mysterious circumstances last week. The gruesome incidents have made national headlines, with media reports saying all three have come under pressure from superiors over working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks, medical workers all over Russia have decried shortages of protective equipment and questionable infection control procedures that turned dozens of hospitals into virus hotbeds, with hundreds of doctors and nurses contracting the virus. Many Russian doctors say they have been threatened with dismissal or even prosecution for going public with their grievances.
May 6, 2020 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A senior government scientist alleges the Trump administration failed to prepare for the onslaught of the coronavirus, then sought a fix by rushing an unproven drug to patients. Rick Bright filed a whistleblower complaint Tuesday with the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that investigates retaliation against federal employees who report problems. He’s the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Bright alleges he was removed from his job and reassigned to a lesser role because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug favored by President Donald Trump.
May 6, 2020 4:05 am
An Associated Press analysis finds that taking the New York metropolitan area’s progress against the coronavirus out of the equation shows the rest of the U.S. moving in the wrong direction, with the infection rate rising even as states move to lift their lockdowns. Scientists warn those numbers will only increase as states from Texas to Florida start to ease their own lockdowns. Meanwhile, Britain’s official coronavirus death total surpassed that of Italy to become the highest in Europe and second-highest in the world behind the United States.
May 6, 2020 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s pick to be the nation’s top intelligence official, congressman John Ratcliffe, is adamant that if confirmed he will not allow politics to color information he takes to the president. The director of the Office of National Intelligence oversees the nation’s 16 spy agencies. During a Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, the Texas Republican consistently told lawmakers he would communicate intelligence to Trump even if he knew the president strongly disagreed with it. Fueling skepticism from some senators is Trump’s firing or forcing out of at least seven top U.S. intelligence officials since last summer.
