March 21, 2020 3:52 am
HARRISBURG,PA – Coal mining operations will be allowed to continue under an update announced by Gov. Tom Wolf Friday, state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington, announced. Snyder said following Thursday’s order from Wolf that mandated the closure of non-life sustaining companies, which initially included coal mining operations, she has been in constant contact with representatives from the governor’s office, members of the United Mine Workers of America and coal mining company officials.“It’s imperative that our coal operations continue – they are a vital part of keeping our energy grid running as it should, especially during this current pandemic situation,” Snyder said. “I applaud Governor Wolf and members of his team who have been willing to work with us to keep these and other vital energy-producing businesses fully operational. To shut down operations, even temporarily, would be devastating on so many levels, and I am thankful that a shutdown isn’t happening.”Snyder added any business that wants to apply for a waiver from the closure order can do so by using the following email address: RA-dcexemption@pa.gov. Businesses that have questions as to whether they need to close can contact the state Department of Community and Economic Development by email at RA-dcedcs@pa.gov.
March 20, 2020 4:44 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Business groups and Republican lawmakers are greeting a broad shutdown order from Pennsylvania’s governor with questions, objections and outrage. Meanwhile, two lawsuits challenging it were filed Friday. With enforcement expected to soon begin, Gov. Tom Wolf defended the order Friday by saying that Pennsylvania needs to prevent its hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with people stricken by the virus. Late Thursday, Wolf directed all “non-life-sustaining” businesses to close their physical locations. Pennsylvania has reported one death and more than 260 people sickened from the coronavirus so far.
March 20, 2020 4:37 pm
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has confirmed the state’s first death from the coronavirus. DeWine identified the man who died Wednesday as a 76-year-old attorney from the Toledo area who had recently traveled to California. DeWine says the state has now entered a new stage in the crisis. Ohio now has nearly 170 cases with nearly 40 hospitalizations. The state human services agency said it received 139,468 unemployment insurance benefit applications online this week, compared to 4,815 last week.áThe federal government approved Ohio’s application for access to low-interest loans of up to $2 million for businesses and nonprofits affected by the coronavirus’ economic impact.
March 20, 2020 4:26 pm
Just over two weeks after the former owner of Levin Furniture stores announced a plan to buy back the stores and save them from bankruptcy, the deal is off. Our news partners at WPXI say they have learned that employees of Levin Furniture stores in the Pittsburgh-area received an email Friday saying the deal was no longer happening. That deal, which was announced on March 5, involved Robert Levin acquiring Levin Furniture and Wolf Furniture locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio through a court restructuring of parent company Art Van Furniture. Robert Levin celebrated the agreement with workers. Art Van Company was shutting down and starting liquidation sales at its stores in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio. Levin Furniture was founded in 1920 in Mount Pleasant by Robert Levin’s grandparents.
March 20, 2020 3:33 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is tapping stepped-up powers to marshal the private sector in the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week he said he’d invoke the rarely used Defense Production Act as needed to get vital medical supplies on the front lines of the outbreak. Now he says he’s put that “in gear.” He also announced an effective closure of the U.S. border with Mexico, prohibiting most travel except for trade. That brings it in line with the restriction on the Canadian border earlier this week. The government is suspending interest on federally owned student loans as well.
March 20, 2020 10:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has announced that the deadline for filing U.S. income taxes has been moved from April 15 to July 15. Mnuchin tweeted Thursday morning that at President Donald Trump’ direction, “we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.” The administration had announced earlier in the week that it would delay the payments, a move that Mnuchin said would leave $300 billion in the economy at a critical time.
March 20, 2020 9:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., sold as much as $1.7 million in stocks just before the market dropped in February amid fears about the coronavirus epidemic. Senate records show that Burr and his wife sold between roughly $600,000 and $1.7 million in more than 30 separate transactions in late January and mid-February. That was just before the market began to fall and as government health officials began to issue stark warnings about the effects of the virus.
March 20, 2020 4:06 am
FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) – A fourth member of a New Jersey family has died from COVID-19. NJ.com reports Vincent Fusco died Thursday morning at a hospital in Freehold. Fusco’s mother, Grace Fusco, died Wednesday night, hours after another son, Carmine Fusco, died in Pennsylvania. A sister, Rita Fusco-Jackson, died last Friday. Multiple reports say several members of the family have been hospitalized with the coronavirus.
March 20, 2020 4:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump responded to increasing pressure from states by calling on them to do more to secure their own critically needed masks, ventilators and testing supplies for hospitals coping with a rising number of coronavirus patients. He asserted Thursday that the federal government is not a “shipping clerk.” This, as governors complained that they’re running short of needed supplies in some states and need more federal help. Trump and his administration took additional, once-unthinkable steps to try to contain the pandemic. The State Department issued a new alert urging Americans not to travel abroad under any circumstances. Lawmakers worked urgently toward a $1 trillion aid package.
March 20, 2020 3:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Members of President Donald Trump’s economic team will convene on Capitol Hill to launch negotiations with Senate Republicans and Democrats racing to draft a $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package amid the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the biggest effort yet to shore up households and the U.S. economy as the pandemic and its nationwide shutdown hurtles the country toward a likely recession. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has unveiled a sweeping economic rescue plan to pump $1,200 checks directly to taxpayers, $300 billion for small businesses to keep idled workers on payroll and $208 billion in loans to industries. The negotiations are certain to encounter difficulties ahead, as some Republicans object and Democrats say it doesn’t go far enough.
