October 16, 2020 2:11 am
(WPXI) – Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed a bill that would have allowed restaurants and other businesses to return to full capacity despite the continued COVID-19 pandemic. The bill, known as HB 2513, was passed in the State House of Representatives on Sept. 23. Under that bill, restaurants, bars, clubs and banquet halls could return to full capacity under each business’ discretion and it would eliminate the requirement that a meal must be purchased to get an alcoholic beverage. The bill also allowed for bar seating again, with social distancing/barriers. In the governor’s veto, he said the bill would endanger public health and safety by allowing restaurants to open up to full capacity without regard for state and federal COVID-19 mitigation guidelines. Wolf also said in his letter to state representatives that removing the meal requirement for alcohol consumption “increases the likelihood of COVID-19 outbreaks” in Pa. Now that the governor has vetoed the bill, it goes back to the state legislature where they would need a two-thirds majority to override it.
October 15, 2020 1:29 pm
HELENA, Mont. (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service agreed Wednesday to reverse changes that slowed mail service nationwide. The agreement settles a lawsuit filed by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. The lawsuit filed against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the U.S. Postal Service on Sept. 9 argued changes implemented in June harmed access to mail services in Montana. The postal service agreed to reverse all changes, which included reduced retail hours, and removal of collection boxes and mail sorting machines. The agreement also requires the Postal Service to prioritize election mail. The settlement agreement reached in the U.S. District Court in Great Falls applies to all states.
October 15, 2020 1:19 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit against Juul Labs, accusing the company of being responsible for what city health officials call an epidemic of e-cigarette use among teens and young people. The city is the latest in a long string of states, cities and other municipal entities to file a lawsuit against the company over use of electronic nicotine devices by young people. The lawsuit announced Wednesday was filed in California, the home of Juul Labs. Philadelphia officials allege that Juul intentionally marketed its products to young people. Juul said Wednesday that it will continue to work to “combat underage use” and and will respond to the allegations “through the appropriate legal channels.”
October 15, 2020 1:17 pm
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) – Classes are resuming at Youngstown State University following a three-day strike by faculty members. The university announced early Thursday the school and the union reached “an understanding for the general framework on a new three-year contract.” The parties will “work out details for a tentative agreement.” Terms were not disclosed. Proposed salary increases and related issues had been the sticking points. A fact-finder had recommended that faculty members get a 6% pay increase over three years. School officials said that didn’t take into account financial challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.
October 15, 2020 9:55 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – Joe Biden’s presidential campaign says vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will suspend in-person events until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for coronavirus. The campaign said Biden had no exposure, though he and Harris spent several hours campaigning together in Arizona on Oct. 8. áHarris was scheduled to travel Thursday to North Carolina for events encouraging voters to cast early ballots. The campaign told reporters Thursday morning that Harris’ communications director and a traveling staff member for her travel to Arizona tested positive after that Oct. 8 trip.
October 15, 2020 9:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to 898,000, a historically high number that is evidence that layoffs remain a hindrance to the economy’s recovery from the pandemic recession that erupted seven months ago. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department shows that the job market remans fragile, and it coincides with other recent data that have signaled a slowdown in hiring. The economy is still roughly 10.7 million jobs short of recovering all the 22 million jobs that were lost when the pandemic struck in early spring.
October 15, 2020 9:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – Dr. Anthony Fauci is criticizing a declaration by a group of scientists that supports the concept of “herd immunity,” which the White House is using to bolster a push to reopen schools and businesses. Fauci says backing herd immunity – the idea that a disease will stop spreading once nearly everybody has contracted it – is “total nonsense.” The top U.S. infectious disease expert says it would mean many more infections of vulnerable people, which will lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths. The U.S. leads the world with 7.9 million coronavirus cases and nearly 217,000 confirmed deaths. Globally, there have been 38 million reported cases and 1.09 million confirmed deaths.
October 15, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Melania Trump says her and the president’s 14-year-old son, Barron, tested positive for the coronavirus not long after his parents. But he had no symptoms and has since tested negative. She made the revelation in a lengthy note chronicling her personal experience with COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. She said she was hit with a “roller coaster” of symptoms, including body aches and headaches, but treated them naturally with vitamins and healthy food. President Donald Trump says Barron “had it for such a short period of time, I don’t even think he knew that he had it.”
October 15, 2020 4:12 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Pacific Gas & Electric has begun turning off power to more than 50,000 Northern California customers as dry, windy conditions renew the threat of fire in a season already marked by deadly, devastating blazes. The utility announced Wednesday evening that it had begun cutting power to up to 33,000 customers, with about another 20,000 to follow in a few hours. The shutoffs will affect nearly two dozen counties, mostly in the Sierras and San Francisco Bay Area, and could last 48 hours. Preemptive electricity cuts are aimed at preventing fires from being started by power lines that have been damaged or knocked down amid high winds.
October 15, 2020 4:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) – NBC News says it’ll host President Donald Trump for a town hall-styled event on Thursday, after the president submitted to a coronavirus test administered by the National Institutes of Health. The network’s decision received a strong backlash on social media, where a call to boycott NBC trended on Twitter. Trump’s test results were reviewed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who concluded with a colleague that he was confident that the president was no longer “shedding infectious virus.” So now there will be dueling town halls with Democratic opponent Joe Biden on the night both men were supposed to be meeting in their second presidential debate. Biden will be appearing in a town hall sponsored by ABC News.
