July 15, 2020 4:06 am
A much more civil tone played out over Tuesday night’s Monessen City Council Meeting. There were disagreements but the overall combative nature that has been the norm for these meetings subsided greatly. Council received great news financially as the annual commercial insurance package realized a decrease in premium. Annual savings on this year’s insurance package will be over $64,000. Most of those savings came from the Workers Compensation Insurance. Financial disagreement did arise as Councilman Anthony Orzechowski questioned the purchase process in which a new website for the city was carried out. Blaming a very contentious council, Mayor Matt Shorraw took it upon himself to contract for the website design and “deal with it later.” Orzechowski was upset because council was not made aware of the pending website design much less the expenditure. Council also authorized the demolition of 5 blighted properties in the city. That brings the total to 10 for the year. The demolitions will be paid for through a Community Development Block Grant. Shorraw hopes to add more properties to the demolition list and hopefully improve lots in the city to be able to sell to prospective buyers.
July 15, 2020 4:04 am
North Franklin Council is examining legal approaches and ramifications to handling the Washington Crown Center’s northern bridge. After deciding that repairing the bridge would be complicated and expensive, Council is now focused on removing it completely. The mall’s pedestrian bridge is a horrendous sight to the public, according to Council Supervisor Bob Sabot. Additionally, he says the mall has done nothing to renovate or fix the now-defunct bridge. “It has no purpose anymore and they don’t want to spend any money to fix it”, argues Sabot. However, demolition will be difficult, since the township cannot exercise authority over the mall’s property. In order to legally tear down the bridge, Council plans to cite the bridge’s violations in hopes of state enforced action. “It’s unsightly and the fence is falling down, which is in violation of township code enforcement, so we can cite based on that”, states Sabot. Exactly when Council will cite the bridge’s violations is undetermined.
July 15, 2020 2:32 am
The Washington County Coroner’s office has identified a man killed in a motorcycle crash in North Strabane Township. 53 year old John Duda of Kettering, Ohio was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident was discovered just before 6:30 a.m. near the intersection of Linden Road and Thomas Eighty-Four Road. Investigators say Duda failed to negotiate a curve and lost control of the motorcycle. It’s believed the accident occurred between 6 p.m. Monday evening and 6:33 a.m Tuesday morning. A cause and manner of death are pending. North Strabane Township police are investigating.
July 14, 2020 4:41 pm
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) – Florida surpassed its one day record for coronavirus deaths, amid rising fears of a resurgent pandemic. The 132 new deaths pushed the state’s seven-day average to more than double what it was two weeks ago. Britain and France announced Tuesday they will require people to wear face masks in public indoor spaces and an Australian state threatened to jail anyone caught violating quarantines, amid rising global fears about a resurgence of the pandemic. British officials announced the requirement after weeks of dismissing the value of masks, and said it will take effect July 24. In France, President Emmanuel Macron said masks will be required by Aug. 1, after recent rave parties and widespread backsliding on social distancing raised concerns about a rebound.
July 14, 2020 4:06 am
(AP) – Arizona reported 4,273 confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday and an all-time high in hospitalizations. The state Department of Health Services says the statewide infection total is 128,097. On Monday, 3,517 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, with record numbers using ICU beds and ventilators. There were 92 deaths reported Tuesday, increasing Arizona’s confirmed death total to 2,337. Gov. Doug Ducey recently closed gyms and bars and limited restaurant capacity. Many local governments have imposed mask requirements.
July 14, 2020 4:03 am
BOSTON (AP) – The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was announced at the start of a hearing in a federal lawsuit in Boston brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The announcement brings relief to thousands of foreign students who had been at risk of being deported from the country, along with hundreds of universities that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall in light of the policy.
July 14, 2020 4:01 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – Joe Biden has released a $2 trillion plan aimed at combating climate change and spurring economic growth in part by overhauling America’s energy industry. The plan includes a proposal to achieve entirely carbon pollution-free power by 2035. It’s the latest example of Biden’s efforts to appeal to progressives as he builds out a legislative agenda as the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee. In the plan, Biden pledges to spend $2 trillion over four years on the plan. It’s a significant acceleration of the $1.7 trillion over 10 years he proposed spending in his climate plan during the primary.
July 14, 2020 4:00 am
TAHOE CITY, Calif. (AP) – California’s Squaw Valley Ski Resort is considering changing its name to remove the word “squaw,” a derogatory term for Native American women. Squaw Valley President and CEO Ron Cohen says resort officials are meeting with shareholders and the local Washoe tribal leadership to get their input. He says he can’t give a timeline on when a decision will be made. The possible renaming is one of many efforts across the nation to address colonialism and indigenous oppression. Washoe Tribe Chairman Serrell Smokey said the name Squaw Valley is a constant reminder of efforts to disparage native people.
July 14, 2020 3:59 am
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) – The U.S. has carried out the first federal execution in nearly two decades, putting to death a man who was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in the 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Forty-seven-year-old Daniel Lewis Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, died Tuesday after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Lee said before his execution that he was innocent. His the first death row inmate to be executed since 2003. Lee’s execution came over the objection of the victims’ family and following a series of legal challenges related to the raging coronavirus pandemic.
July 14, 2020 3:48 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The first bills passed by Pennsylvania’s Legislature in response to widespread protests over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd are now law with Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature. In a news conference Tuesday in Harrisburg, Wolf, a Democrat, characterized the two bills he signed as small, but important steps toward making society fair. The two bills passed the House and Senate unanimously last month. They are designed to prevent problematic officers from continuing to find employment in police departments, provide officers with more cultural sensitivity training and provide officers with more mental health screening.
