March 26, 2020 4:37 pm
(AP) – Fred “Curly” Neal, the dribbling wizard who entertained millions with the Harlem Globetrotters for parts of three decades, has died. He was 77. The Globetrotters say Neal died in his home outside of Houston, but did not provide any other details. Neal played for the Globetrotters from 1963 to 1985, appearing in more than 6,000 games in 97 countries for the exhibition team known for its combination of comedy and athleticism. He became one of five Globetrotters to have his jersey retired when his No. 22 was lifted to the rafters during a ceremony at Madison Square Garden in 2008.
March 26, 2020 3:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread. Trump wants to begin easing nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter Thursday to the nation’s governors, Trump says the new guidelines are meant to enable state and local leaders to make “decisions about maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other measures they have put in place.” Trump has been seeking for days to determine how to contain the economic fallout of the guidelines issued by his administration as well as local leaders to slow the tide of infections. States would still have authority to set restrictions.
March 26, 2020 12:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are rising more than 4% Thursday, putting the market on track for its first three-day rally in six weeks, even as the astonishing scale of the downturn slamming the economy because of the coronavirus becomes more apparent. Nearly 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, shattering the prior record set in 1982. The outbreak has happened so suddenly that the report is one of the first to show how much economic pain it’s creating. The S&P 500 has rallied 16% since Monday on expectations Congress would pass an unprecedented rescue package for the economy. The bill cleared the Senate late Wednesday.
March 26, 2020 10:31 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – The Mylan NV-Upjohn merger is being pushed back into the second half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Mylan NV (Nasdaq: MYL) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), which owns Upjohn, announced Thursday that COVID-19 is moving the expected merger date from the first half of the year and Mylan’s meeting of shareholders to approve it is being moved from April 27 to June 30.
March 26, 2020 8:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A record-high number of people applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs engulfed the United States in the face of a near-total economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus. The surge in weekly applications for benefits far exceeded the previous record set in 1982. Layoffs are sure to accelerate as the U.S. economy sinks into what most economists expect to be deep and painful recession. Revenue has collapsed at restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, gyms and airlines. Auto sales are plummeting, and car makers have close factories. Most such employers face loan payments and other fixed costs, so they’re forced to cut jobs to save money.
March 26, 2020 8:45 am
DETROIT (AP) – Ford says it wants to reopen five North American assembly plants in April that were closed due to the threat of coronavirus. The three Detroit automakers suspended production at North American factories March 19 ago under pressure from the United Auto Workers union, which had concerns about members working closely at work stations and possibly spreading the virus. Union spokesman Brian Rothenberg said Thursday that the UAW is reviewing Ford’s announcement “with great concern and caution.” The company says it’s aiming to reopen its factory in Hermosillo, Mexico, on April 6, followed by its Dearborn truck plant, Kentucky truck plant, the Ohio Assembly Plant and the Transit van line at the Kansas City plant on April 14.
March 26, 2020 5:10 am
WASHINGTON CO., Pa. — (WPXI) – The Greater Washington County Food Bank is used to putting together about 4,000 meals each month with 3,600 being distributed directly from the warehouse and 400 being boxed and sent to area food pantries. However, major changes are underway in the face of coronavirus and the nonprofit is on track to box 6,000 meals this month for pantries and truck-to-trunk distribution. The increased number of boxed meals is partially due to a drop in direct distribution, but also a preparation for increased demand. The food bank is asking for cash donations, canned fruits and vegetables, snacks, cereal, peanut butter, drinks and more – including soap. Volunteers hope they’ll have enough, so they can assure no one in need of food goes hungry.
March 26, 2020 4:02 am
SEATTLE (AP) – U.S. hospitals are rushing to find beds for a coming flood of COVID-19 patients, opening older closed hospitals and re-purposing other medical buildings. Simple math is spurring hospital leaders to prepare. With total U.S. cases now doubling every three days, empty intensive care unit beds, needed by an estimated 5% of the sick, will rapidly fill. An Associated Press analysis of federal hospital data finds more than 7 million people age 60 and older – those most at risk of severe COVID-19 illness – live in counties without ICU beds.
March 26, 2020 3:59 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – The governor of a state in central Mexico is arguing that the poor are “immune” to the new coronavirus, even as the federal government suspends all nonessential government activities beginning Thursday in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. Puebla Gov. Miguel Barbosa’s comment Wednesday was apparently partly a response to statistics saying three-fourths of Mexico’s 475 cases to date are related to international travel. Mexico’s poor don’t make many such trips. Barbosa is taking that to an extreme with his argument: “The majority are wealthy people. If you are rich, you are at risk. If you are poor, no. We poor people, we are immune.”
March 26, 2020 3:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic. The 880-page measure is the largest economic relief bill in U.S. history. The unanimous vote comes despite misgivings on both sides about whether it goes too far or not far enough. It caps days of difficult negotiations as Washington confronted a national challenge unlike any it has ever faced. The package is intended as relief for an economy spiraling into recession or worse and a nation facing a grim toll from an infection that’s killed nearly more than 21,000 people worldwide.
