May 28, 2020 3:57 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Protests rocked Minneapolis for the second straight night Wednesday after a man’s death in police custody. One person was killed in what police were investigating as a homicide amidst violence that included looting and setting fires. The protests began outside the police precinct in the part of the city where 46-year-old George Floyd died on Memorial Day. Four Minneapolis officers were fired after video footage showed one of them kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd’s neck until he became unresponsive. News helicopter footage showed several nearby stores being looted as police encircled the precinct house and made no evident move to intervene.
May 28, 2020 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Roman Catholic diocese of Pittsburgh has announced plans to consolidate 61 parishes into 15 new parishes. The mergers, to be completed July 1, will reduce the number of parishes in the diocese of Pittsburgh from 152 to 106. Bishop David Zubik told parishioners in a letter that “This has not been a simple task” but spoke of the need for sacrifice and said “You are positioning your new parish for more effective ministry by addressing financial needs, sharing resources and allowing your clergy to focus on the spiritual work for which they were ordained.”
May 28, 2020 3:52 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Professional sports can resume in Pennsylvania where the governor’s stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the coronavirus is no longer in force, but without spectators. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Wednesday that teams and competitors will be allowed to practice or play in counties where Wolf’s yellow or green designation applies in his stoplight-colored three-phase reopening plan. To resume, a team or a league must develop a coronavirus safety plan that has been approved by Wolf’s state Department of Health and it must include testing or screening and monitoring of all “on-venue” players and personnel. Organized youth sports can begin or resume in areas in the green phase.
May 28, 2020 2:23 am
In a significant loosening of coronavirus restrictions, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced that restaurants in yellow-phase Pennsylvania counties as of June 5th can begin outdoor dining, with appropriate precautions. Prior to his order, restaurants in yellow-phase counties were only allowed to do take-out and delivery business. Guidance issued by his administration for outdoor dining includes maximum occupancy limits; a requirement that indoors areas remain closed except for “through traffic”; and that customers being served outside must be seated at a table. Currently, 49 counties statewide are in the yellow phase, and 18 of those are set to move to the less-restrictive green phase on Friday.
May 27, 2020 12:33 pm
ORLANDO (AP) – The Orange County Reopening Task Force has approved the plans for both SeaWorld and Walt Disney World. Next the plans go to Mayor Jerry Demings and then Gov. Ron DeSantis. Disney guests, along with employees, will be required to wear facemasks, have their temperatures checked and will see a reduction of capacity at the theme parks with signs encouraging the practice of social distancing. Walt Disney World will reopen in two waves. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will reopen on July 11. EPCOT and Hollywood Studios will open on July 15. SeaWorld Orlando is looking to reopen on June 11.
May 27, 2020 9:52 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit has been called off with 16 minutes to go in the countdown because of the danger of lightning. Liftoff is rescheduled for Saturday. The spacecraft was set to blast off Wednesday afternoon for the International Space Station, ushering in a new era in commercial spaceflight and putting NASA back in the business of launching astronauts from U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade. Ever since the space shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA has relied on Russian rockets to carry astronauts to and from the space station.
May 27, 2020 9:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is threatening social media companies with new regulation or even closure after Twitter added fact checks to two of his tweets. Claiming tech giants “silence conservative voices,” Trump tweeted Wednesday that, “We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.” The president can’t unilaterally regulate or close social media companies, as that would require action by Congress or the Federal Communications Commission. Trump and his campaign are lashing out after Twitter on Tuesday added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots “fraudulent” and predicted that “mail boxes will be robbed.”
May 27, 2020 4:49 am
(AP) – Boeing is cutting more than 12,000 jobs through layoffs and buyouts, with several thousand more jobs expected to be cut over the next few months as the aircraft deals with a downturn in travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The company said Wednesday it will lay off 6,770 U.S. workers this week, and another 5,520 employees are taking buyouts. Boeing had already said it would cut 10% of a workforce that numbered about 160,000. The layoffs are expected to be concentrated in the Seattle area, home to Boeing’s big commercial-airplanes business. The Chicago-based company says its defense business is stable and will help blunt the impact of falling demand for passenger jets.
May 27, 2020 4:44 am
Peters Township Council was updated by Township Manager Paul Lauer on what could be expected when Governor Tom Wolf allows Washington County to enter the Green Phase of his economic reopening plan. Lauer updated council on revenues coming into the township. He indicated that earned income revenues are down but that could be because of the delayed filing date for income taxes approved earlier this year by the IRS. Deed transfer taxes were down as well. Lauer feels that Wolf’s shut down of the real estate industry had a great deal to do with those revenues falling. Lauer said he hopes to have a better understanding of revenues in the next month or so. Fire Chief Mike McLaughlin updated council on what is occurring with his department as Peters Township approached green. He is tracking day care centers and advising businesses regarding their legal occupancy once the green phase is achieved. Businesses will only be allowed to have 50% of their current approved occupancy of customers inside their establishments. McLaughlin complimented business owners in their efforts to comply with regulations going forward.
May 27, 2020 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa — A new children’s health condition linked to COVID-19 has now popped up in Pennsylvania, health officials said. The illness is called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition’s symptoms include a persistent fever that is often relatively high temperature, rash, change in skin color, swollen lymph nodes, red eyes and abdominal pain. Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Tuesday at a news conference that the Department of Health was aware of 17 reports of the disease in the state. Nine of those have been confirmed, two were determined to not be cases of MIS-C and the remaining six are still being investigated. New York City reported the first cases in the country in April. They now have more than 100 cases and three children have died. Researchers said early treatment leads to a full recovery in most cases.zvj
