August 25, 2020 4:19 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Jerry Falwell Jr. says he has resigned as head of evangelical Liberty University. Falwell confirmed his departure in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, a day after the school said he had submitted, then rescinded his resignation. Falwell stepped down amid conflicting claims about a sexual relationship his wife had with a younger business partner. He had already been on a leave of absence after a photo he posted on social media caused an uproar. Falwell is the son of university founder the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. (Photo: CNN)
August 25, 2020 4:18 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – The father of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot, apparently in the back, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says his son was left paralyzed from the waist down. Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was told his son was shot eight times during the Sunday evening confrontation with police, which was captured on cellphone video and led to two nights of unrest in the city that’s along Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. The father, who is also named Jacob Blake, said he was driving from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Kenosha to be with his son. He said his son has “eight holes” in his body and that doctors don’t know if the paralysis will be permanent.
August 25, 2020 4:16 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United Nations chief says the global tourism industry has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, with $320 billion lost in exports in the first five months of the year and more than 120 million jobs at risk. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said international tourist arrivals also decreased by more than half. He said in a report Tuesday that tourism is the third largest export sector of the global economy, behind fuels and chemicals, and in 2019 it accounted for 7% of global trade. He said: “It employs one in every 10 people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more.”
August 25, 2020 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Republican National Convention is off to a bumpy start with the news media. President Donald Trump complained about his coverage, CNN and MSNBC subjected him to aggressive fact-checking and Fox News Channel faced a social media backlash for not showing more of the convention. Trump, in an informal acceptance of his party’s nomination for a second term, complained about news networks not showing the full roll call of delegates voting for him. Networks juggled the roll call with coverage of the House Oversight Committee’s hearings into the Postal Service’s readiness for mail-in voting. The president made three TV appearances on the first day.
August 25, 2020 4:04 am
The construction of a new aquatic center in Peters Township’s Rolling Hills Park took center stage again at Monday night’s council meeting. Council awarded a contract for $65,500 to Kimmel-Bogrette for the design of the center. The vote to approve was narrow once again with the majority approving the contract 4-2-1. Council members Monica Merrell and Frank Arcuri voted against the project. Councilman Gary Stiegel abstained. Council then approved the creation of an advisory committee to oversee the project. Chairman David Ball appointed Council members Bob Lewis, Frank Kosir and Frank Arcuri to serve on the committee. Arcuri declined citing lack of time. Ball then appointed James Berquist to the post. Arcuri did make an impassioned speech wondering if spending upwards of $10 million is an appropriate use of funds saying that it is possible to build out the rest of the park for that money and not have to worry if an aquatic center that is used 3 to 4 months a year will cover its operating costs. Council also set September 14 as a date to hold a public hearing for a proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance relating to wireless communication facilities. Cell phone towers and upcoming installation of towers to handle 5G communications will be addressed.
August 25, 2020 2:31 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s governor is urging lawmakers to legalize recreational marijuana and spend down much of the remaining $1.3 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday outlined his priorities for the fall legislative session. His proposal on the federal funding includes extra hazard pay for workers on the front lines of handling the pandemic, as well as financial support for small businesses, child care needs, protective equipment and utility shut-offs. House Republican Leader Kerry Benninghoff is dismissive of the governor’s proposals, calling them unaffordable and a taxpayer bail out of mandates.
August 25, 2020 2:25 am
The Peters Township School District opened their doors for the first day of school on Monday morning with relatively few problems. School district Communications Coordinator Shelly Belcher says that the morning went quite smoothly considering the changes that students met when arriving. Students were directed by teachers to maintain social distancing while arriving at school. As students entered buildings, they were greeted with thermal imaging cameras to monitor for fevers and traffic patterns within the buildings were altered. The district is employing the Canvas learning management platform for in school and remote students. Belcher says that there were minimal issues with students adapting to the change. Lunches for elementary students were in classrooms and in the upper level buildings, cafeteria service was provided. Belcher went on to explain that remote learning students that wish to partake of school lunches may do so by ordering online and picking up the lunches at the high school three days a week. Students in the Bentworth School District also returned today to in-person learning five days a week. Washington and Trinity schools don’t resume classes until September 8th. Both of those districts will be operating under a hybrid system with students attending classes in person two consecutive days and three days of remote instruction.
August 24, 2020 4:58 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Zoom is experiencing partial outages during the first day of school for thousands of students who are relying on the video conferencing technology to connect with educators. The company said Monday that it began receiving reports of disruptions around 9 a.m. Eastern time. It has identified the issue causing the problem and is working on a fix, it reported on its status page. Grade schools, high schools and universities are relying on Zoom and competing technologies like Microsoft Teams to reduce the chance of infection during the pandemic. Technical issues are occurring across the U.S., with the most reports on the East Coast, as well as in Europe, according to downdetector.com, which monitors self-reported outages.
August 24, 2020 4:28 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers Monday that he has warned allies of President Donald Trump that the president’s repeated attacks on mail-in ballots are “not helpful,” but denied that recent changes at the Postal Service are linked to the November elections. DeJoy was testifying for a second day on Capitol Hill, facing tense questions from lawmakers over an uproar in mail delivery delays since he took the helm in mid-June. He said he was “not engaged in sabotaging the election,” adding that, like Trump, he personally plans to vote by mail. Democrats said changes under DeJoy are causing widespread disruptions. Republicans dismissed the worries as unfounded.
August 24, 2020 4:56 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s governor has summoned the National Guard to head off another round of violent protests after the police shooting of a Black man under murky circumstances turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says 125 members of the National Guard will be in Kenosha on Monday night with responsibility for “guarding infrastructure and making sure our firefighters and others involved are protected.” The move came after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear Sunday night, hours after the wounding of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, who was hospitalized in serious condition. He was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.
