November 24, 2020 4:06 am
Peters Township Council adopted a preliminary 2021 budget that showed no tax increase. Township Manager Paul Lauer detailed the budget for council showing $33,703,897 in expenditures and revenues of $20,369,194. The $13,000,000 deficit will be offset by a $10,000,000 bond obtained in 2019 for the development of Rolling Hills Park. Lauer states that those borrowed funds will now be expended. The other $3,000,000 is dedicated to initial development of the township’s proposed aquatic center. Should council approve the project, funds for that project will need to be borrowed. Also included in that possible bond would be the development of a new fire station on the Venetia side of the township. Lauer did caution council that come 2022, a modest tax increase may be in store.
November 24, 2020 2:42 am
Gov. Tom Wolf and Pa. Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine held a press conference Monday to announce new measures as coronavirus cases continue to surge across the state. Levine issued several advisories, including a statewide stay-at-home advisory and the suspension of alcohol sales at all bars and restaurants between 5 p.m. Nov. 25th and 8 a.m. Nov. 26th. Pa.’s positivity rate has climbed to 11.1% with its seven-day case increase of over 36,000 new cases and 63 of the state’s counties with substantial transmission status, health officials said. Wolf and Levine said during the press conference that the state strongly recommends residents stay home when possible. The stay-at-home advisory was expanded from individual counties to the entire state. Below is a brief list of some of the other statewide restrictions:
- Indoor dining capacity remains capped at 50%
- Employees must telework when possible starting Nov. 27
- Retail businesses can remain open at 75% capacity
- Indoor events with more than 500 people prohibited
- Outdoor events with more than 2,500 people prohibited
- Stay-at-home advisory statewide
November 23, 2020 1:53 pm
(AP) – Several members of the Baltimore Ravens organization have tested positive for COVID-19, leaving the team to conduct all activities virtually with a game against OUR unbeaten Pittsburgh STEELERS coming up Thursday night. The Ravens said they were informed late Sunday night that “multiple” people tested positive. The team has shut down its practice facility and started the process of contact tracing. The names of those who tested positive for COVID-19 have not been released. THEY SAY THEY will continue to work closely with and follow guidance from the NFL, team doctors and THEIR medical trainers.
November 23, 2020 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden has chosen former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to serve as treasury secretary, a pivotal role in which she would help shape and direct his economic policies. Her nomination was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with Biden’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss them. Yellen, who is widely admired in the financial world, would be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department in a line stretching back to Alexander Hamilton in 1789. The 74-year-old Yellen was also the first woman to serve as Fed chair. She later became an adviser to Biden’s presidential campaign.
November 23, 2020 4:21 am
YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) – The ALS Association says a co-founder of the viral ice bucket challenge has died at the age of 37. The organization announced that Pat Quinn died Sunday. He helped inspire participation in the social media challenge, which has raised more than $200 million worldwide for Lou Gehrig’s disease research. Quinn was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2013. The organization said that in 2014, he helped popularize the ice bucket challenge, where participants were dared to take a bucket of ice water, dump it over their head, post a video on social media and ask others to do the same or to make a donation. Thousands participated and videos received millions of views.
November 23, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A longtime national security aide to President-elect Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, is expected to become Biden’s nominee for secretary of state. Multiple people familiar with the Biden team’s planning tell The Associated Press that Blinken is at the front of his choices to be America’s top diplomat. Blinken served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. If chosen and confirmed, he would be a leading force in Biden’s bid to reframe the U.S. global relationship after four years in which President Donald Trump questioned longtime alliances.
November 23, 2020 4:18 am
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Two people are dead and multiple others are injured following a church stabbing in San Jose, California late Sunday. Police say the stabbing happened at Grace Baptist Church. It is unclear exactly how many people were wounded. Police say there is no confirmation of an arrest after Mayor Sam Liccardo said on Twitter that a suspect had been captured, but later deleted the tweet. KTVU-TV also reported that a 22-year-old man was apprehended. Police say no services were taking place at the time of the stabbing, but that homeless people had been brought to the church to take shelter from the cold.
November 23, 2020 4:18 am
LONDON (AP) – AstraZeneca says late stage trials of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University were “highly effective” in preventing disease. The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported, AstraZeneca said. Dr. Andrew Pollard said “these findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives.” He said if people were given a half dose followed by a full dose, rather than two full doses, protection rose to about 90%. Two other drugmakers, Pfizer and Moderna, last week reported preliminary results showing that their COVID-19 vaccines were almost 95% effective.
November 23, 2020 4:13 am
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly is leading a suit filed Saturday in Pennsylvania challenging the use of mail-in ballots predominately cast by Democrats in lifting Joe Biden to victory in the presidential race in the state and seeking to block certification of the election results. The plaintiffs contend that the Legislature never followed the proper constitutional procedures to expand exceptions to in-person voting to institute a system of universal mail-in voting and are asking the court to throw out non-absentee mail-in ballots. Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a Twitter post that the elected officials and candidates who joined the suit “should be ashamed of themselves.”
November 23, 2020 4:11 am
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a police K-9 officer in Pennsylvania died in a fall down an elevator shaft while assisting police in a search for burglary suspects. Just after 4 a.m. Sunday, officers in Johnstown were dispatched to a burglary at the old Goodwill warehouse and quickly apprehended two of five suspects. K-9 Titan was helping to search the five-story building but fell through an unsecured open elevator shaft on the fourth floor. All five suspects were eventually taken into custody. Police said K-9 Titan had “served honorably” with the Johnstown Police Department since 2014 and died “in the line of duty.”
