July 25, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has been unable to land the big deal he sought with Congress to curb drug costs. But now he’s moving on his own to allow imports of cheaper prescription medicines, along with other limited steps that could still have election-year appeal. Friday at a White House ceremony, Trump signed four executive orders. In addition to importation, they are about paying lower international prices for some Medicare drugs, passing rebates directly to consumers, and making discounted insulin available to low-income people. Democrats, including Joe Biden, are pushing a much more ambitious plan to empower Medicare to negotiate lower prices.
July 25, 2020 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. put another 52 branches on the chopping block, including eight in the Pittsburgh metro, in its biggest mass cut so far this year. Pittsburgh’s largest bank filed the applications with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 17, according to just posted data by the regulator. That was two days after PNC released second-quarter earnings and Bill Demchak, chairman, president and CEO, told financial analysts that it had “additional thoughts” about keeping some branches closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic permanently shuttered as consumer preferences for digital transactions has accelerated.
July 25, 2020 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Many of Pennsylvania’s school districts are about to decide on their local regulations for resuming in-person teaching in the coming academic year. The plans that have already been produced have a lot of variation, which education officials say is by design. Districts must have a board-approved plan posted online before they can resume in-person instruction for the first time since schools closed for the year in March. Administrators who have been planning for months now face the hard decisions as the state’s infection numbers are experiencing a sharp increase.
July 25, 2020 3:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced Friday that expiration dates for driver licenses, identification cards, and learner’s permits, will be extended for Pennsylvania residents in response to statewide COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Effective July 23, expiration dates for driver licenses, photo ID cards and learner’s permits scheduled to expire from March 16, 2020 through August 31, 2020, have been extended until August 31, 2020. These extensions are in addition to those announced on June 25. A camera card is considered a driver’s license, so it is covered by the same terms and conditions extending other driver’s license products. Camera cards with expiration dates within this timeframe are also extended through August 31, 2020. Additionally, limited services are available at some Driver License and Photo License Centers. For a list of open driver license and photo license centers and the services provided, as well as their hours of operation, please visit www.dmv.pa.gov. Driver and vehicle online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewals; driver-history services; changes of address; driver license and vehicle registration restoration letters; ability to pay driver license or vehicle insurance restoration fee; driver license and photo ID duplicates; and schedule a driver’s exam. There are no additional fees for using online services.
July 24, 2020 2:51 pm
MT. LEBANON, Pa. (WPXI) – Mt. Lebanon police are asking for help finding a missing 18-year-old woman. Police said Mariela Lopez Escalante was last seen July 19 at a foster care home. Escalante came to the United States at age 17, was placed in foster care and is a ward of the state. If you have any information on her whereabouts, you’re asked to call 911 immediately.
July 24, 2020 1:17 pm
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (WPXI) — Kennywood Park will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays for the rest of the season due to low attendance numbers, park officials announced Friday.The schedule change will start on July 27, spokesperson Nick Paradise said.“Based on what we’ve seen from being open the past two weeks, there just isn’t a need for us to be open every day going forward this season,” Paradise said. “Attendance has been really low. Paradise declined to estimate specific park attendance numbers but said on an average day, the park has not hit its maximum total capacity of 30-percent. “We’re already operating under the limited capacity guidelines of no more than 50%, but we’re not even near that,” he said. The park is still strongly encouraging guests to utilize the RSVP registration system in advance for the date they want to visit, but walk-up guests have been accepted. The amusement park just reopened on July 13, with new restrictions and guidelines. Everyone is required to wear a mask, except for children two years old and younger, and temperature checks are required at the park.
July 24, 2020 8:50 am
You can add the 2020 Hickory Apple Festival to the list of events cancelled or postponed because of Coronavirus. The Mt. Pleasant Volunteer Fire Company announced that “with due regard to the current health and safety situation of our country it is with great sadness that the 2020 Hickory Apple festival scheduled for October 3 and 4 is cancelled.” “We hope everyone stays safe and healthy during this time”. This was to be the 37th Annual festival. It is the largest fundraiser for the fire company.
July 24, 2020 4:26 am
HONOLULU (AP) – The first hurricane to threaten the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is presenting new challenges to officials long accustomed to tropical storms. Meteorologists warn Hurricane Douglas should weaken by the time it hits Hawaii with strong winds, heavy rainfall and dangerous surf beginning Sunday. Honolulu authorities are preparing extra shelter space so people can maintain physical distance from others. Evacuees at Honolulu shelters will have their temperatures taken. Those with high temperatures or with a travel or exposure history will either be isolated at that shelter or taken to a different site. Officials are reminding residents to make sure they have masks and hand sanitizers in their emergency supply kits.
July 24, 2020 4:25 am
MIAMI (AP) – The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Hanna is forecast to reach the Texas coast over the weekend, threatening to bring heavy rain, rough waters and strong winds. An advisory released early Friday says Hanna has maximum sustained winds around 40 mph and is located about 360 miles east, southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. Hanna is expected to make landfall Saturday and bring 3 to 5 inches of rain, and coastal swells. Tropical Storm Gonzalo is also moving closer to the southern Windward Islands and could cross over several others islands this weekend. Some strengthening is forecast, but Gonzalo is expected to weaken as it moves into the Caribbean Sea.
July 24, 2020 4:24 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has ordered the United States to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu in an increasingly rancorous diplomatic conflict. The order followed the U.S. closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston after Washington accused Chinese agents of trying to steal medical and other research in Texas. The Chinese foreign ministry appealed to Washington to reverse its “erroneous decision.” Chinese-U.S. relations have soured amid a mounting array of conflicts including trade, technology, spying accusations, Hong Kong and allegations of abuses against Chinese ethnic Muslims. The foreign ministry says “the current situation in Chinese-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see. The United States is responsible for all this.”
