December 22, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell for a seventh straight month in November, dipping below the national rate, as payrolls continued to rebound from pandemic-driven shutdowns. That’s according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 6.6% in November, down eight-tenths of a percentage point. The national rate was 6.7% in November. In a survey of households, the state’s labor force shrank by an estimated 40,000 in November, closer to 6.3 million. Payrolls in Pennsylvania grew in November, by a projected 21,000. Pennsylvania has now regained about 57% of the 1.1 million jobs lost since mid-March, according to state figures.
December 22, 2020 3:28 am
A “Rights For Restaurants” rally was held on Monday afternoon. Rod Ambrogi, owner of Al’s Cafe in Bethel Park hosted the event. He said that there were probably 100 people in attendance. Attendees included state and local governmental officials including commissioners from Washington County. Ambrogi says that he would like Governor Wolf to listen to what they have to say. Ambrogi states that restaurants understand the dangers of the coronavirus but they are doing their best to comply with CDC guidelines with regard to sanitization, social distancing and mask wearing. Ambrogi wants restaurants to unify against Wolf’s mandate that closes restaurants to indoor dining. Ambrogi says that he was visited by board of health officials and was told to close down but he refused. He wants to try and keep his employees working.
December 22, 2020 2:23 am
WJPA received an update from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office with regards to the fatal pedestrian accident on rt. 40 back on December 9. That accident involved a Washington County detective. That detective’s name was never revealed. The Washington County District Attorney turned the investigation over to the attorney general immediately. WJPA reached out to the attorney general’s office and in an email response they stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
December 22, 2020 2:19 am
A Fayette County man was sentenced to a state correctional facility for his guilty plea on one felony count of drug delivery resulting in death. Jeffery Horabik, 34 of Redstone Twp. admitted to selling heroin laced with fentanyl to James Dunn of South Strabane Twp. back in October 2018. Judge Gary Gilman sentenced Horabik to 5-10 years in state prison.
December 21, 2020 6:54 am
The Washington Health System expects to receive some two-thousand doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week. President and CEO Brook Ward says they will vaccinate any health care worker that wants to receive it. Ward says they will be following all CDC distribution guidelines including those that live at nursing home and in long-term care facilities. In a video posted on Facebook, Ward says it is unclear when the vaccine will become available to the general public. He is also advising residents to avoid any gatherings outside of immediate households during the holidays. According to Ward, “We all want to get together like we have for decades with our family, friends and loved ones but one meal, one gathering, one social event is not worth risking the lives of your friends and family. So, I encourage you to avoid doing that this December”.
December 21, 2020 4:25 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced new social gathering restrictions while still refusing to implement a mask mandate despite pleas from front-line healthcare workers in a state experiencing the highest new cases per capita in the country. Instead of a mask mandate, the Republican on Sunday signed an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people. However, places of worship, weddings and funerals are exempt from the order. He called the state “ground zero” in the COVID-19 battle.
December 21, 2020 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden will receive his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe. Monday’s event will come the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, joins Pfizer’s in the nation’s arsenal. Top government leaders including Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were given doses Friday. But missing from the action has been President Donald Trump, who has not said when he intends to get the shot.
December 21, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Top negotiators in Congress have sealed a deal on $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package. Lawmakers announced the agreement Sunday after days of negotiations, and passage by Congress is expected Monday. The agreement would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefits and $600 direct stimulus payments to most Americans, along with a fresh round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and funding for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction. The final agreement was reached after a breakthrough over Federal Reserve emergency powers was resolved by the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.
December 21, 2020 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A federal advisory panel has recommended that people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers be put next in line for COVID-19 shots as a second vaccine began rolling out to hospitals. The developments came as a desperately needed boost as the nation works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. The U.S. is trying to ramp up a vaccination program that only began in the last week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says initial shots have gone so far to about 556,000 Americans. Trucks left the Olive Branch, Mississippi, factory, near Memphis, Tennessee, with the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. The much-needed shots are expected to be given starting Monday.
December 21, 2020 4:20 am
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) – More than 1 million people have passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints in each of the past two days in a sign that public health pleas to avoid holiday travel are being ignored. It marks the first time U.S. airports have screened more than 1 million passengers since Nov. 29. That came at the end of a Thanksgiving weekend that saw far more travel around the country than had been hoped as coronavirus cases began to spike again. Now, the big fear is the pandemic will get even worse if people don’t stay at home. Hospitals in many areas are being overwhelmed amid the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. since March
