April 11, 2020 4:09 am
Over airlines’ objections, the Trump administration is proposing that a big chunk of the federal aid designed to cover airlines payrolls this year will be loans, not cash. Airlines were expecting to share $25 billion in cash grants that Congress approved to help them keep employees on the job for the next six months. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wants the airlines to pay back some of the money. Airlines say they need cash to avoid massive layoffs because the coronavirus outbreak has wiped out most travel. The airlines and the Treasury Department are expected to keep negotiating over the weekend.
April 11, 2020 4:08 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The global death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed 100,000, with more than half the U.S. deaths clustered in the three-state metro area around New York City. Bedroom communities in New Jersey, Connecticut and on Long Island are seeing some of the worst outbreaks in the country. That comes even as public health authorities are expressing optimism that the pace of infections appeared to be slowing. Christians worldwide are marking a Good Friday unlike any other – in front of computer screens instead of in church pews. Officials are warning people against violating social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to flare up again.
April 11, 2020 4:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Governor Tom Wolf has authorized the early release of as many as 1,800 inmates from Pennsylvania state prisons in an effort to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. The governor’s office said Friday that releases to halfway houses or home confinement could start as early as Tuesday. The plan is similar to what other states and some Pennsylvania counties have undertaken. It allows the release of inmates serving time for nonviolent offenses who are within nine months of scheduled release, or within 12 months for those considered at heightened risk from the virus. The state is reporting 20,000 virus cases and over 400 deaths.
April 11, 2020 3:28 am
The Washington County Transportation Authority has learned that three of its bus drivers have tested positive for COVID-19. In a news release, Freedom Transit says it was informed by its subcontractor, First Transit, of the positive tests. Two of the drivers operated shared ride service and the other operated fixed route service. The two shared ride drivers last worked on March 20th. The other last worked on March 31. All three are following appropriate medical guidance. All passengers who may have been exposed to the shared ride drivers have been contacted. The fixed route driver drove the ‘County Line B’ route several times during the week of March 16. Customers who may have concerns about potential exposure should follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines and self-monitor for symptoms. Freedom Transit Executive Director Sheila Gombita says “The health and safety of Freedom Transit drivers, as well as personnel working to keep this essential service operating is a top priority. We continue to ask riders to follow the stay-at-home order and limit their use of transit to only essential needs. Freedom Transit also asks customers to wear masks while riding buses.
April 10, 2020 5:42 pm
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis is presiding over a torch-lit Good Friday procession in an otherwise empty St. Peter’s Square, with nurses and doctors among those holding a cross as the COVID-19 pandemic upends the traditional ceremony at Rome’s Colosseum. Wearing their white work coats, the Vatican medical personnel provided a stark reminder of how the virus outbreak has infused almost all walks of life. Francis watched from the steps outside St. Peter’s Basilica as the procession, which included a uniformed police officer and a prison chaplain, circled around the square’s central obelisk. Earlier, the papal preacher said pandemic has alerted people to the danger of thinking themselves all-powerful.
April 10, 2020 1:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer says the Trump administration has agreed to pursue bipartisan House-Senate talks on an interim bill to replenish a $350 billion “paycheck protection” program for businesses that is being rapidly depleted. The New York Democrat said he spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Friday and hopes for a deal early next week. Schumer is pressing to add funding for health care providers such as hospitals, as well as further funding for cash-poor state and local governments. The developments come a day after Democrats stifled an attempt by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass a $250 billion infusion into the new program by a voice vote.
April 10, 2020 1:51 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is issuing an executive order Friday to authorize the early release of up to 1,800 inmates from Pennsylvania state prisons in an effort to minimize the spread of the new coronavirus. The governor’s office said that releases to halfway houses or home confinement could start as early as Tuesday. The plan is similar to what other states and some Pennsylvania counties have undertaken. It allows the release of inmates serving time for nonviolent offenses who are within nine months of scheduled release, or within 12 months for those considered at heightened risk from the coronavirus.
April 10, 2020 4:09 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care where he was being treated for the new coronavirus, as his government told Britons to prepare for several more weeks in lockdown. In a statement Thursday, his office said Johnson “has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.” It said he was in extremely good spirits. Johnson had been in intensive care for three days after his symptoms worsened. News of Johnson’s improving condition was welcomed across the British political spectrum – and by U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted: “Great News: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just been moved out of Intensive Care. Get well Boris!!!”
April 10, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr believes the Russia investigation that shadowed President Donald Trump for nearly two years was started without any basis and was intended to “sabotage the presidency.” Barr made the comments during an interview with Fox News Channel that aired Thursday night. He has appointed a U.S. attorney to lead a criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. He says the Justice Department has evidence there was “something far more troubling” than just mistakes during the early stages of the FBI’s Russia investigation. That investigation later morphed into special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
April 10, 2020 4:07 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United Nations secretary-general is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security. Antonio Guterres warned the U.N. Security Council this can potentially lead “to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.” The council is the U.N.’s most powerful body and it has been silent on COVID-19 since it started circling the globe in January. But after Thursday’s meeting the council issued its first brief press statement. It expressed “support for all efforts of the secretary-general concerning the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries.”
