February 5, 2021 4:03 am
PITTSBURGH — More than 15,000 calls per second were reported to Allegheny County’s 211 COVID-19 vaccine phone line, according to officials. Only 750 people were able to be registered before it was shut down due to call volume, wait times and reported scammers. The service was part of an expanded partnership between the Allegheny County Health Department and the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The call center began taking calls well before the noon start time. On an average day, officials said there will be about 750 calls. In the first five minutes following the announcement of the phone number, there 653 calls. The phone line was shut down before 4 p.m. due to the sheer volume of calls. People were overrunning the system and others were unable to get through. The phone registration support was intended only for people age 65 or older who do not have internet access or who are having trouble navigating the registration website. Appointments were for the Allegheny County Health Department’s Point of Dispensing inside the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville only. By mid-afternoon, the ACHD learned that a hacker had gotten into the system. People were being asked by someone to send credit card information or gift cards in order to have an appointment made. The phone carriers involved are investigating that and it’s not clear which carrier was involved.
February 5, 2021 2:25 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation that carries over $900 million in pandemic-driven aid for hard-hit hospitality businesses, private schools and people struggling to pay rent or utility bills. Both chambers passed the bill unanimously Friday and Wolf’s office said he’ll sign it. Most of the $912 million in the bill is federal aid approved by Congress in December. Some of it, $145 million, is cash from a state worker’s compensation fund that would be available in grants of up to $50,000 for bars, restaurants and hotels with under 300 employees. The majority of the money, $570 million, would help people struggling to pay rent or utilities.
February 4, 2021 3:49 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats have asked former President Donald Trump to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial. They are challenging the former president to explain why he and his lawyers have disputed key factual allegations at the center of their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. The request from House impeachment managers does not require Trump to appear, but it does warn that any refusal to testify could be used at trial to support arguments for a conviction. A Trump adviser did not immediately return a message Thursday seeking comment about the managers’ letter.
February 4, 2021 9:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to 779,000 last week, a historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people are still losing jobs to the viral pandemic. Last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday, and is the lowest in two months. Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession.
February 4, 2021 4:26 am
COLUMBUS, OHio (AP) – A white Ohio police officer has been indicted on murder charges in the December shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man. Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on Wednesday following an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Police bodycam footage showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy.
February 4, 2021 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Asserting a broad reset of American foreign policy, President Joe Biden says he will halt the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in Germany, end support for Saudi Arabia’s military offensive in Yemen and make support for LGBT rights a cornerstone of U.S. diplomacy. Aides outlined some of his plans for what Biden is calling a return to the “grounding wire of our global power” as the president makes his first visit to the State Department as president. The visit doubles as an opportunity to buck up a diplomatic corps, many of whom were discouraged by the policies and tone of former President Donald Trump.
February 4, 2021 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has been gathering with senators and working the phones to push for a giant COVID-19 relief package. But his team is increasingly focused on selling the plan directly to voters. His administration has done 60-plus interviews with national TV and radio shows. There have been spots on local TV news and briefings last week with more than 50 groups that ranged from General Motors to Meals on Wheels. One of the main goals is to stop people from getting bogged down in the tangle of partisan deal-making and start convincing them that every penny being proposed is needed.
February 4, 2021 4:22 am
MIAMI (AP) – A voting technology company is suing Fox News, three of its top hosts, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell for $2.7 billion, charging that the defendants conspired to spread false claims that the company helped steal the U.S. presidential election away from former President Donald Trump. The cable-news network and its hosts allegedly aired 13 reports falsely stating or implying that Smartmatic stole the 2020 vote in cahoots with Venezuela’s socialist government. A Smartmatic rival, Dominion Voting Systems, was also ensnared in Trump’s baseless effort to overturn the election, and on Jan. 25 sued former Trump lawyers Giuliani and Powell for $1.6 billion.
February 4, 2021 4:22 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer has defended his decision to impeach former President Donald Trump amid criticism from voters. Meijer, a freshman, was one of just 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the deadly attack on the Capitol. He said during a virtual town hall that Trump’s falsehoods and the resulting insurrection required a “significant response” from Congress. Two constituents who asked questions said they were deeply disappointed with Meijer, 33, who represents the 3rd Congressional District in western Michigan. One accused him of betrayal and said she would work to defeat him a 2022 primary.
February 4, 2021 4:15 am
(AP) – An Associated Press investigation has found that scores of Roman Catholic dioceses in the U.S. had more than $10 billion in cash and other readily available funds when they received at least $1.5 billion from the federal government’s small business emergency relief program. The Paycheck Protection Program was intended for employers who were badly battered by coronavirus lock downs. Instead of suffering financially, however, many dioceses are reporting in audited financial statements that these assets ended up growing amid the economic downturn. Overall, Catholic Church recipients were perhaps the paycheck program’s biggest beneficiaries. Church officials say they needed government relief to pay staff because donations from the faithful slowed when churches were ordered to close.
