May 3, 2020 8:15 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI)— A man crashed his vehicle into a Pittsburgh auto body shop and then jumped about 30 feet off a nearby bridge Saturday afternoon, according to police. Investigators said the incident happened around 2 p.m. The driver’s vehicle was seen going at a high rate of speed before it crashed completely through the outside of Ron Flora Automotive on West Warrington Avenue. At that point, police said the man ran up to the South Busway bridge above Boggs Avenue and jumped about 30 feet down. He was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. Meanwhile, a female passenger in that vehicle stayed at the scene until officers got there. Police said the woman told officers that she and the driver were having an argument before the collision happened. She was also taken to the hospital but was listed in serious condition. No one else was hurt in the crash. The investigation is ongoing.
May 3, 2020 3:59 am
Balancing economic benefits and public health risks, Governor Tom Wolf today announced the reopening of 24 counties in the northwest and north-central regions of the state, moving them from red to yellow beginning at 12:01 a.m., Friday, May 8th. “Over the past two months, Pennsylvanians in every corner of our commonwealth have acted collectively to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Gov. Wolf said. “We have seen our new case numbers stabilize statewide and while we still have areas where outbreaks are occurring, we also have many areas that have few or no new cases.”
Counties Moving to Yellow Reopening
The 24 counties that will move from red to yellow on May 8 are: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren. These counties were deemed ready to move to a reopening – or yellow phase – because of low per-capita case counts, the ability to conduct contact tracing and testing, and appropriate population density to contain community spread. Wolf says his administration partnered with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to create a Risk-Based Decision Support Tool that enables decision makers to strike a balance between maximizing the results of our economy while minimizing public health risks. The CMU tool looked at the impacts of risk factors such as reported number of COVID cases per population of an area; ICU and medical/surgical bed capacity; population density; population over age 60; re-opening contact risk, such as the number of workers employed in a currently closed industry sector. The Department of Health developed testing and contact-tracing plans that informed today’s decisions and will be used in making decisions moving forward. Counties that will remain under the stay-at-home order (Washington County) will be considered for reopening in the next several weeks as the state continues to closely monitor metrics and collaborate with CMU, health experts and counties.
May 2, 2020 4:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A New York City nursing home says nearly 100 of its residents have died from confirmed or suspected cases of the novel coronavirus. The Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan is among the hardest hit nursing homes in the state, with 46 confirmed fatalities and an additional 52 deaths of people suspected to have the virus. The nursing home said it had to order a refrigerator truck because funeral homes have been taking days to pick up the deceased. The nursing home said it struggled to secure testing during the early part of the pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the death toll “horrifying.”
May 2, 2020 4:13 am
ALTURAS, Calif. (AP) – The lights are back on at restaurants, bars and other businesses in California’s Modoc County after nearly six weeks. The county of 9,000 in the far northeast of the state became the first to reopen Friday, in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-home order. They’re relying on guidance from local officials, like the sheriff, and say they’re following mandates to stay at least 6 feet apart. Amber McCandles was at the Brass Rail restaurant. She says Sheriff Tex Dowdy would never allow residents back out if it wasn’t safe. Newsom has declined to address the reopening, saying that the anxiety in rural areas “is not lost on me.”
May 2, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A spokesman for a key House panel says the White House has blocked Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying next week at a hearing on the coronavirus outbreak. House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander says the panel sought Fauci as a witness for a subcommittee hearing on the government’s response to the pandemic, but was denied. The White House says Fauci is busy dealing with the pandemic and will appear before Congress later. A spokesperson for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee says Fauci is set to appear before that panel the week after next.
May 2, 2020 4:11 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Oprah Winfrey says she wants people to digest coronavirus news wisely during the a 24-hour livestream event. The media mogul along with 200 star-studded participants including President Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts took part in the Call to Unite event on Friday evening. The event was initiated to help inspire people to endure and overcome the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. In one video, Josh Groban sang a song and played his keyboard piano. Charlamagne Tha God gave inspiring words for people dealing with mental illness while inside their homes, and “Hawaii Five-o” actor Daniel Dae Kim said he donated his plasma after recovering from the virus. Clinton and President George W. Bush also offered encouraging words.
May 2, 2020 4:09 am
DETROIT (AP) – Farmers, growers and operators of open-air markets are heading into a busy time of the year as many states still are under stay-at-home orders for residents and non-essential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Shoppers venturing out this year are just as likely to come across tables of hand sanitizer and face mask-wearing produce peddlers as they are to see bushels of corn, quarts of blueberries or flats of petunias. Many markets have moved to drive-thru shopping, reduced days or hours, and fencing to control crowds. At Detroit’s Eastern Market, fencing is being considered and grids will be painted on floors as a reminder to social distance.
May 2, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are standing behind presidential nominee Joe Biden, but the sexual assault allegations against him are putting them on the defensive. And that’s causing discomfort among the former vice president’s supporters who insisted during Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings that female accusers should be believed. Biden was among those backing Christine Blasey Ford. But now, Biden is in the #MeToo hot seat. His former Senate aide Tara Reade is accusing him of having sexually assaulted her in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the spring of 1993. He denies that. But Republicans are accusing Democrats of a double standard.
May 2, 2020 4:07 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says Michigan’s stay-at-home order remains in effect despite Republicans’ refusal to extend her underlying coronavirus emergency declaration, as she amended it to allow construction, real estate and outdoor work to resume next week. The Democratic governor, who may be sued by the GOP-led Legislature, addressed reporters Friday hours after President Donald Trump said she should “make a deal” with conservatives who protested her restrictions at the Capitol. She denounced the protest as “disturbing,” noting there were swastikas, Confederate flags, nooses and some people with assault weapons. She says she’ll gradually reopen the economy using science and data.
May 2, 2020 4:06 am
BEIJING (AP) – Russia has reported its highest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections as some other countries and U.S. states where numbers of cases are stabilizing allowed businesses and public activities to reopen. China, where the pandemic began in December, reported one new infection, extending a decline in confirmed cases. The country has allowed factories and some other businesses to resume work, along with some tourist spots for this weekend’s May Day holiday. South Korea reported six new cases, none in the hard-hit city of Daegu. In the United States, more than a dozen states including Texas allowed restaurants and some other businesses to reopen. The first drug shown to help fight the disease received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
