April 28, 2020 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH — State leaders brought in 1,000 new workers, took employees from other departments and even asked retirees to come back to work. But the problems with the state’s unemployment system are still happening. “I’ll sit there for at least a half-hour while I’m watching the news and it continues to redial and nothing,” said James Hairston. Hairston is from Castle Shannon. He’s in the state’s unemployment system and even received a check before the pandemic happened. He said it’s been no money and no answer, though, since early March. “They instructed me to go to to the site and file one time to see if reactivates. I’ve been doing that for the last eight weeks,” he said. Hairston is just one of the 1.7 million Pennsylvanians filing unemployment claims. It’s led to an email backlog of nearly a month. “If someone hasn’t filed a claim yet because they can’t get a hold of them, we will still take them,” said Susan Dickinson, director of unemployment benefits. Dickinson said people who haven’t received an unemployment PIN number after three weeks to contact the office. A wrong address or other inaccurate information could be causing the delay. About $3.5 billion has already been paid out in unemployment compensation.
April 28, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON — (WPXI) – Several people have been taken to the hospital after a ceiling collapsed at a senior living facility. The collapse was reported around 9:30 p.m. at the Grove at Washington, which was previously called Kade’s Nursing Home. It is along W. Wylie Avenue in Canton Township. According to reports, four people were in the room when the collapse happened. All were rescued by firefighters and taken to the hospital for evaluation. They were said to be conscious and alert but there is no word on their conditions.
April 28, 2020 2:51 am
SAINT PETERSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Authorities in western Pennsylvania say the shooting deaths of a young couple over the weekend are being investigated as an apparent murder-suicide. The Butler Eagle reports that police in western Clarion County believe that 19-year-old Lexis Walker and 22-year-old Jeremiah Heller died early Sunday evening. Family members reported finding the couple dead with gunshot wounds in their Saint Petersburg apartment. Police said they believe they know who the shooter was, but declined to elaborate. Walker was a senior at Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School. The district superintendent called it “is truly devastating news” and said grief counselors would be available.
April 27, 2020 2:58 pm
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Meat isn’t going to disappear from supermarkets because of outbreaks of the coronavirus among workers at U.S. slaughterhouses. But as the meat plants struggle to remain open, consumers could face less selection and slightly higher prices. Industry leaders acknowledge that the U.S. food chain has rarely been so stressed and that no one is sure about the future, even as they try to dispel concerns about shortages. On Sunday, the meat processing giant Tyson Foods ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Times and other newspapers outlining the difficulty of producing meat while keeping more than 100,000 workers safe and shutting some plants.
April 27, 2020 9:42 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York has canceled its Democratic presidential primary that was scheduled for June 23 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Democratic members of the State’s Board of Elections voted Monday to nix the primary. New York will still hold its congressional and state-level primaries on June 23. The decision comes as Gov. Andrew Cuomo said stay-at-home restrictions could be eased in mid-May for parts of the state where the coronavirus outbreak is less severe. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that New York City-run health clinics will soon use a procedure that lets people collect samples themselves at a health care worker’s direction. He said the “self-swab” tests would allow for more and easier testing, and make it safer for test-seekers and health care workers.
April 27, 2020 4:08 am
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) – The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline fell 9 cents over the past two weeks, to $1.93 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says prices at the pump have dropped 61 cents over the past nine weeks and 80 cents since mid-October. She says prices are expected to continue their slide as demand declines amid widespread stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic. The highest average price in the nation for regular-grade gas is $3.13 per gallon in Honolulu. The lowest average is $1.30 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. áThe average price of diesel is $2.62, down 7 cents.
April 27, 2020 4:07 am
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Police say a shooting in the Louisiana capital of Baton Rouge has left a police officer dead and a second officer wounded and fighting for his life. Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul told media outlets the two áwere shot Sunday while investigating reports of gunfire. The chief said a suspect was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff at a house in which shots were fired at a SWAT team and SWAT members returned fire. No one was reported hurt during the standoff. Paul identified the suspect as 36-year-old Ronnie Kato. The chief didn’t immediately say what charges Kato might face.
April 27, 2020 4:06 am
EL PASO, Teas (AP) – A hospital official says that a man shot in the Aug. 3 attack targeting Latinos in an El Paso Walmart has died after months in the hospital. Guillermo ‘Memo’ Garcia was fundraising for his daughter’s soccer team in front of the Walmart when he was shot nine months ago. His death raises the toll from the attack to 23. Garcia is survived by his family including his wife Jessica, who escaped the attack after being shot in the leg. Twenty-one-year-old Patrick Crusius, remains jailed and is awaiting trial. State prosecutors have charged him with murder and are pursuing the death penalty. Federal prosecutors charged him with hate crimes.
April 27, 2020 4:05 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The billions of dollars in coronavirus relief targeted at small businesses may not prevent some of them from ending up in bankruptcy court. The number of business filings under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy law rose sharply in March, and attorneys who work with struggling companies are seeing signs that owners are contemplating the possibility of bankruptcy. Many businesses around the country remain uncertain when economic activity will be allowed to resume, potentially rendering any government relief money they get too little too late. But a federal law that took effect in February gives owners a better chance of keeping their companies under Chapter 11.
April 27, 2020 4:04 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia’s reopening is set to continue as more restrictions against the coronavirus are loosened in the big Southern state. Movie theaters on Monday can welcome customers and limited in-restaurant dining may resume. This comes after other businesses, including barbershops, gyms, tattoo shops and nail salons, were allowed to start seeing customers Friday. Many establishments gratefully opened their doors after a month-long closure, but others didn’t feel ready yet amid the pandemic and remained shuttered. A similar mixed response is expected from the businesses allowed to reopen Monday.
