February 2, 2021 2:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has died at age 86. The Washington, D.C.-based union’s current president, Richard Trumka, says Sweeney “was a great leader and true innovator, driving the labor movement forward.” Sweeney spent 14 years steering the nation’s largest labor federation during declining union membership and rising internal dissent. He helped build the AFL-CIO into a political powerhouse more firmly aligned with the Democratic Party and progressive groups on the left. Sweeney stepped down as president in 2009, then served as president emeritus, offering advice to the group’s executive council and delivering speeches. Sweeney was born in New York City, the son of working-class Irish immigrants. He died Monday at his Maryland home.
February 2, 2021 2:25 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Administration officials say Gov. Tom Wolf will propose a sweeping new plan to dramatically boost funding for public schools to be supported by an increase in the state’s personal income tax rate. The Democratic governor will ask the Republican-controlled Legislature for what could approach $2 billion for public schools. The personal income tax increase would take the rate to 4.49% from 3.07%, but increase the exemption for the lowest earners. The last increase in Pennsylvania’s personal income tax rate took effect in 2004. The governor’s plan to increase the personal income tax would raise about $3 billion extra. Wolf’s administration began releasing details of the plan ahead of Wednesday’s planned budget address.
February 2, 2021 2:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) -The award-winning character actor who toured the world as Mark Twain in a one-man show and uttered the immortal advice “Follow the money” in the political thriller “All the President’s Men,” has died. His representative Steve Rohr says Holbrook died Jan. 23. He was 95. Holbrook played the mysterious informant “Deep Throat” who helped steer Washington Post reporters during Watergate and played Twain whenever he wasn’t busy with other acting jobs. He would update the show to fit the times and performed the role by his account some 2,200 times and hung up the white suit in 2017.
February 1, 2021 10:46 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Tony Bennett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease but it hasn’t quieted his legendary voice. The singer’s wife and son reveal in the latest edition of AARP The Magazine that Bennett was first diagnosed with the áirreversible neurological disorder in 2016. The magazine says he endures “increasingly rarer moments of clarity and awareness.” Still, he continues to rehearse and twice a week goes through his 90-minute set with his longtime pianist, Lee Musiker. The magazine says he sing with perfect pitch and apparent ease. His wife tells the magazine: “When he sings, he’s the old Tony.”
February 1, 2021 4:11 am
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (AP) – Police say one person has died and another person suffered minor injuries in a shooting at a northern Wisconsin mall. Grand Chute Police Officer Travis Waas didn’t immediately identify either victim on Sunday night. He said the shooter left the mall before officers arrived and remained on the loose Sunday night. Police were called to the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute, a suburb of Appleton, at about 3:30 p.m. Photos from the scene showed officers, some in tactical gear, staging outside the mall and what appeared to be customers walking out with their hands in the air. Grand Chute is about 100 miles north of Milwaukee.
February 1, 2021 4:09 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – An effort to reopen schools in California is foundering, stoking the frustration of parents and the governor of America’s most populous state. As the one-year anniversary of distance learning approaches, parents are grappling more than ever with the toll of isolation and intense screen time on their kids’ academic and emotional well-being. A $2 billion plan by Gov. Gavin Newsom to reopen schools next month has not been well received. The Legislature shows no sign of fast-tracking its approval. The state’s powerful teachers unions and biggest school districts say it is unworkable, raising questions about whether K-12 schools will open at all this academic year.
February 1, 2021 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden and a group of 10 Senate Republicans are offering competing proposals to help the United States respond to the coronavirus pandemic and provide economic relief to businesses and families. The president met with the senators on Monday at the White House. White House press secretary Jen Psaki described the meeting as “an exchange of ideas” and not a forum for Biden to “make or accept an offer.” The topline numbers are this: Biden’s plan calls for an additional $1.9 trillion in federal spending. The 10 GOP senators are calling for about $618 billion.
February 1, 2021 2:04 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — The Steelers announced the death of Patricia Rooney on Saturday night. She was 88 years old. She was the wife of longtime Steelers owner and former ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney. She was born to Mary Duffy Regan and Martin Regan originally of Co. Mayo in Ireland. Rooney was born on the North Side of Pittsburgh and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. Due to COVID precautions, funeral arrangements are private. A memorial Mass will be scheduled at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army or the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, or the charity of the donor’s choice. The family would also like to thank the many caregivers who provided wonderful care to her. The Steelers said Rooney passed away peacefully at home Saturday night.
January 31, 2021 7:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, testing President Joe Biden’s ability to bridge Washington’s partisan divides as he pursues his first major legislative victory. Biden called for a $15 hourly minimum wage during his campaign and has followed through by hitching it to a measure that, among other things, calls for $1,400 stimulus checks and $130 billion to help schools reopen. Biden argues that anyone who holds a full-time job shouldn’t live in poverty, echoing progressives in the Democratic Party who are fully on board with the effort. Some Republicans support exploring an increase but are uneasy with $15 an hour. They warn that such an increase could lead to job losses in an economy that has nearly 10 million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic began. Moderates such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rep. Tom Reed of New York are urging Biden to split off the minimum wage hike from COVID-19 talks and deal with it separately.
January 31, 2021 7:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is backing off for now on a plan to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to the 40 prisoners held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said in a tweet Saturday that the Defense Department would be “pausing” the plan to give the vaccination to those held at Guantanamo while it reviews measures to protect troops who work there. Kirby said no prisoners had yet received the vaccination. The plan drew some criticism after The New York Times reported that the vaccination of prisoners would start in the coming days. The U.S. military announced earlier this month that it planned to offer the vaccine to prisoners as it vaccinated all personnel at the detention center. At the time, U.S. Southern Command said it expected to have enough vaccine for all of the approximately 1,500 personnel assigned to the detention center. It said that the vaccine would be offered to prisoners but did not plan to reveal how many actually received it because of medical privacy regulations.
