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.
March 20, 2020 3:57 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s governor has issued stay-at-home orders for 40 million people in the most sweeping move of any state yet to curb the spread of the coronavirus. With half the state already under local stay-home requirements, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday issued a statewide order, warning that unless the rise in cases of COVID-19 slows, it might overwhelm the state’s medical system. Newsom says people will be able to shop for food and seek medical care but should practice social distancing. In a letter to President Donald Trump, Newsom said the virus eventually could infect more than half the state’s population.
March 20, 2020 3:55 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s prisons are working to set up video conferences between inmates and family members now that visits have been suspended in an effort to keep the coronavirus out of the institutions. Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said the service should be available soon to family members in their homes. It had been available previously between prisons, if, say, a family member went to a prison to connect with a relative incarcerated somewhere farther away in a Pennsylvania state prison. But now, families will be able to sign up for 45-minute time slots and use devices in their homes to video chat.
March 20, 2020 2:51 am
The number of corona virus cases continues to climb here in Pennsylvania. As of Thursday, there were 185 cases, and on Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 268 positive cases. State health officials say they anticipate the number to continue to go up as more people get tested for the illness. State health Sec. Rachel Levine warned during her daily briefing that community spread of the virus was occurring and she urged people to stay home to prevent the illness from spreading. Washington County remained at three cases while Westmoreland County doubled to four positive results. Allegheny County recorded an additional nine cases on Friday, bringing their total to twenty-seven confirmed cases of the Coronavirus.
March 20, 2020 2:14 am
Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania to close their physical locations as of 8 p.m. today, March 19, to slow the spread of COVID-19. Enforcement actions against businesses that do not close physical locations will begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 21st. “To protect the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians, we need to take more aggressive mitigation actions,” said Wolf. “This virus is an invisible danger that could be present everywhere. We need to act with the strength we use against any other severe threat. And, we need to act now before the illness spreads more widely.” In extenuating circumstances, special exemptions will be granted to businesses that are supplying or servicing health care providers. “
Business List from Gov. Wolf’s Office
