April 19, 2020 8:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump is bringing faith leaders into a discussion about a phased-in return to broader in-person worship after weeks of religious services largely shifting online in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump held a call with faith leaders one day after his White House included houses of worship among “large venues” that could be able to reopen while observing “strict physical distancing protocols” in the first stage of a three-part plan to reopen the U.S. economy, which has been frozen by the toll of the highly contagious virus.
April 19, 2020 8:52 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Eastern Orthodox clergy have marked Easter in Jerusalem at a Church of the Holy Sepulcher devoid of worshipers due to the new coronavirus. Mass was performed at the site where many Christians believe Jesus was entombed and rose from the dead after his crucifixion. Ordinarily, the church would be filled with faithful and tourists. But travel restrictions imposed by Israel to prevent the spread of the virus have prevented the arrival of pilgrims to Jerusalem for the springtime holiday and limited the gathering of worshipers at the church. In Egypt, Coptic Christian leaders held mass at a remote desert monastery as restrictions prevented the assembly of worshipers at churches.
April 19, 2020 8:37 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — A Washington Man led police on a chase after a attempted break-in incident in Canton Township early Sunday morning. State Police say a 42-year-old female called authorities while her ex-boyfriend, identified as 54-year-old William Tyler, was attempting to gain entry to the woman’s home by hitting the front door at 619 Best Avenue. Before police arrived, Tyler fled the scene in a gold-colored 2003 Mercury. Troopers were able to find Tyler driving at a high rate of speed and did not stop when officials activated emergency lights and sirens. The suspect was unable to negotiate a turn and left the roadway on Jefferson Avenue at the intersection with Henderson Avenue. Tyler left the roadway, traveled onto and embankment and damaged a sign, railing as well as a parked vehicle according to police. Tyler reportedly fled the scene on foot after the crash, where he was later apprehended by the State Police, who say there was signs of impairment during the arrest. Tyler is currently being processed in the Washington County Jail.
April 19, 2020 8:24 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. — A Forward Township man has died after crashing his vehicle in Monongahela Saturday evening. Chance Borgese, 21, was driving northbound on State Route 88 near Chestnut around 7:00 p.m. when he lost control of his car, struck a guide rail and finally came to rest in the southbound lanes. Officials say Borgese was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Coroner Tim Warco says Borgese was pronounced dead around 8:30 p.m. A cause and manner of death is still pending. The Monongahela Police Department are still investigating the accident. The police were assisted by the Monongahela Fire Department and Tri-Community Ambulance.
April 19, 2020 8:15 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Paul O’Neill, a former Treasury secretary who broke with George W. Bush over tax policy and then produced a book critical of the administration, died Saturday. He was 84. O’Neill’s son, Paul O’Neill Jr. confirmed that his father died at his home in Pittsburgh after battling lung cancer for the last couple of years. After a few surgeries and chemotherapy, he decided against any further intervention four or five months ago, he said. A former head of aluminum giant Alcoa, O’Neill served as Treasury secretary from 2001 to late 2002. He was forced to resign after he objected to a second round of tax cuts because of their impact on deficits. While at Alcoa, O’Neill lifted the company out of the doldrums during his 12-year stint as the Pittsburgh company’s CEO. Shortly after he took the job in April 1987, he began emphasizing factory safety and employee dignity as a top priority. Before joining Alcoa, O’Neill had been president from 1985 to 1987 of International Paper Co. In June 2019, O’Neill received the Gerald R. Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service, according to a piece in his hometown paper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. O’Neill is survived by his wife, four children, 12 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
April 19, 2020 8:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is starting curbside pickup at liquor stores around the state a month after Gov. Tom Wolf ordered them closed as part of a broader shutdown of businesses deemed nonessential. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced on its website Saturday that stores will begin taking orders by phone Monday, with each customer limited to no more than six bottles. Curbside pickup will be available at more than 175 of the state’s 600 stores. The closure of the state-owned liquor stores had been widely unpopular, especially with the state’s online ordering system largely unable to keep up with overwhelming consumer demand.
April 18, 2020 10:44 am
Pennsylvania’s new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance website for self employed, independent contractors, gig workers and others not normally eligible for regular unemployment compensation is now live. applications can be filed at the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation System website. questions about eligibility and documents needed can be found at that website as well. For help with filing a claim or to have questions answered, go to UCHelp@pa.gov.
April 18, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The debate over testing is still going strong, even as the United States tries to move past the shutdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The country is struggling to test enough people for the coronavirus so officials can track and control the spread of the disease. That’s a crucial first step to reopening parts of the economy, as President Donald Trump is pushing to do by May 1. Trump’s plan hinges on a downward trajectory of positive tests. It’s been more than a month since he said “anybody who wants a test, can get a test.” Today, the reality on the ground is much different
April 18, 2020 3:59 am
BEIJING (AP) – Governments around the world are wrestling with when and how to lift economically painful virus-control measures as unemployment rises and rent payments come due. Many places have instituted strict restrictions on movement to try to stop the spread of a new coronavirus that has infected more than 2.2 million people and for which there is no vaccine. The debate in the U.S. has taken on political tones. Republican President Donald Trump urged supporters to “LIBERATE” three states led by Democratic governors. He tweeted the kind of rhetoric some have used to demand an end to stay-at-home orders that have thrown millions out of work.
April 18, 2020 3:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Democratic lawmakers want police departments to be vigilant about any racially biased policing during the coronavirus pandemic, as people in communities of color express fears of being profiled while wearing masks or other face coverings in public. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and other Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Friday to Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray. In it they urge federal law enforcement agencies to provide anti-bias training and guidance to police officers. They say if people of color, especially African Americans, feel at risk of selective enforcement, they may not adopt the precautionary measures to avoid spreading the virus.
