May 18, 2020 9:25 am
California University of Pennsylvania will be looking for a new President. Geraldine Jones has announced that she will retire early next year. The 69 year old Jones was served as President at the university for the past eight years. She plans to officially retire January 29, 2021. Jones says she looks forward to “spending time with my beautiful family and having the opportunity to travel with my best friend and husband, Jeff”. Since 2012, Jones has led development of the university’s Strategic Plan and instituted a system of shared governance that brought faculty, staff and students into the decision-making process. Jones also secured the largest philanthropic gift in university history, $4.2 million to fund the Karen and Tom Rutledge Institute for Early Childhood Education. The university’s Council of Trustees will now form a Presidential Search Committee and a consulting firm will be selected to assist in the search for the next president.
May 18, 2020 5:35 am
HARRISBURG — In its latest response to the economic toll of the coronavirus crisis, Pennsylvania launched a program Sunday intended to provide 13 additional weeks of compensation to people who have exhausted their traditional unemployment benefits, the state’s Department of Labor & Industry announced in a press release. Citizens who collect unemployment are typically eligible for 26 weeks of benefits. Pennsylvania’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program essentially extends that time frame for those who qualify and remain out of work, according to the release. The amount a person receives in PEUC weekly benefits will be the same as what that individual took home during regular unemployment, a figure based on recent earnings. Pennsylvanians are eligible for the 13 weeks of PEUC compensation if they exhausted regular state or federal unemployment benefits after July 6, 2019, are able to work and are actively seeking work as possible during the pandemic. Pennsylvania has received more than 1.8 million unemployment claims since March 15. The Department of Labor & Industry has paid out more than $7.9 billion in unemployment benefits during that time frame, it said in Sunday’s release.
May 18, 2020 4:12 am
TORONTO (AP) – A Canadian aerobatic jet has crashed into a British Columbia neighborhood during a flyover intended to boost morale during the pandemic, killing one crew member, seriously injuring another and setting a house on fire. The crash left debris scattered across the neighborhood near the airport in the city of Kamloops. The Snowbirds are Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds or U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of Capt. Jennifer Casey, who served as a spokesperson for the Snowbirds, and the injuring of Capt. Richard MacDougall, the pilot of the aircraft.
May 18, 2020 4:11 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Police and fire investigators have launched a criminal probe into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in Los Angeles that injured a dozen firefighters. They are trying to determine what might have sparked the blast that shot a ball of flames out of the downtown building Saturday and sent crews running for their lives. Eight firefighters remained hospitalized Sunday: two were in critical condition, but all are expected to survive. A fire captain described the business where the explosion occurred as a maker of “butane honey oil.” Butane is an odorless gas that is used to extractáthe chemical THC from cannabis to create a highly potent oil.
May 18, 2020 4:10 am
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (AP) – Tropical Storm Arthur began moving away from the North Carolina coast Monday after dumping heavy rain as forecasters warned that the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could also bring life-threatening surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast. With Arthur’s center passing off North Carolina, towns near the coast including Newport and Havelock recorded more than 4 inches (10 cm) of rain Monday morning as others approached that number, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts of at least 40 mph (64 kph) were recorded in at least two places on the Outer Banks, the weather service said.
May 18, 2020 4:09 am
BEIJING (AP) – China’s commerce ministry says it will take “all necessary measures” in response to new U.S. restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei’s ability to use American technology, calling the measures an abuse of state power and a violation of market principles. An unidentified spokesperson quoted Sunday in a statement on the ministry’s website said the regulations also threatened the security of the “global industrial and supply chain.” The statement said that China will “take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.” U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday that Washington wants to prevent Huawei from evading sanctions imposed earlier on its use of American technology to design and produce semiconductors abroad.
May 18, 2020 4:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) – J.C. Penney will permanently close almost 30% of its 846 stores as part of a restructuring under bankruptcy protection. The Plano, Texas-based department store operator said Monday that it plans to close about 192 stores by February 2021, and then 50 additional stores in the year after that. That would leave the company with just over 600 locations. J.C. Penney filed for bankruptcy reorganization on Friday, making it the biggest retailer to do since the coronavirus pandemic forced them to temporarily close all stores.
May 18, 2020 4:06 am
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) – The Florida Keys will reopen to tourists on June 1, more than two months after the island chain closed to visitors to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. The Monroe County Emergency Management said Sunday that checkpoints that barred visitors from coming into the Florida Keys will be removed next month. The statement says hotels and other lodging establishments will also be allowed to reopen at 50% occupancy. Businesses must implement sanitation stations and follow the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s cleaning guidelines for COVID-19. The Florida Keys have been closed to non-visitors since March 22.
May 18, 2020 4:04 am
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) – Just days after announcing it would end hazard “hero” pay to front-line workers, Kroger says it will give them extra “thank you” pay through mid-June. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the move comes after an outcry from the grocery store’s union, the United Food and Commercial Workers International. The extra pay is $400 for full-time workers and $200 for part-time workers to be paid out in two installments on May 30 and June 18. Hazard pay was a $2 per hour supplement. The union says it will continue to push for hazard pay for as long as the pandemic continues.
May 18, 2020 4:02 am
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a Pennsylvania man is facing aggravated assault and other charges after being accused of dousing a 4-year-old boy with gasoline and talking about setting him on fire. Authorities say officers were sent to a Southmont borough home shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday and found the child and 27-year-old Josiah James McIntosh smelling of gasoline and the defendant in possession of a disposable lighter. Police said another man reported him saying “If we can’t get out the demon, I’ll burn it out of him.” A message was left Saturday with an attorney representing him.
