May 2, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A court ruling Friday says the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board must let special orders be shipped directly to retailers instead of sending them to state stores for pickup. The Commonwealth Court says the PLCB can’t ignore a 2016 state law that permits the direct shipping of wines and spirits not sold in state stores. Retailers and restaurants have instead had to get their orders at state stores that have been closed or operating on a limited basis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Kevin Brobson says the agency must comply in a reasonable timeframe.
May 2, 2020 4:02 am
FINLEYVILLE, Pa. (WPXI) — A local dog grooming business is back open across two counties in western Pennsylvania despite the continued stay-at-home orders in our region. Candelore’s Barking Beauties reopened its doors Wednesday in Finleyville even though Gov. Tom Wolf hasn’t specified if this is an essential business. Owner Norm Candelore said he made the decision to reopen his doors after he got requests from over 750 people. Candelore told said among the three locations in Finleyville, White Oak and Elizabeth, his business serves 16,000 customers. When Wolf initially ordered mandatory shutdowns of all non-life sustaining businesses on March 19, Candelore said he complied. However, week after week of the business reopening being pushed back – combined with customers begging for help with nail clippings and removing painful dog matting – Candelore decided he’d had enough and opened his Finleyville location only. Safety measures such as wearing masks, limiting the lobby to one customer and curbside pickup are a few of the adjustments made. Candelore said he plans to reopen the other two locations in Allegheny County on May 8.
May 2, 2020 4:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – One of the nation’s biggest steelmakers expects to lay off roughly 2,700 employees as the demand for iron and steel drops during the coronavirus pandemic. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel announced its plans yesterday, the same day it reported a first-quarter loss of $391 million. The company had about 27,500 employees as of last year. It did not say where the layoffs would be but said it will also temporarily idle two blast facilities. They are in Gary, Indiana, and outside Pittsburgh. The firm has now idled seven out of its 10 blast furnaces in the U.S. (Photo: WPXI)
May 1, 2020 4:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. regulators will allow emergency use of an experimental drug that appears to help some coronavirus patients recover faster. It is the first drug shown to help fight COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration acted Friday after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that the drug remdesivir shortened the time to recovery for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drug also might be reducing deaths, although that’s not certain from the partial results revealed so far. Drugmaker Gilead Sciences has said it would donate its currently available stock of the drug and is ramping up production to make more.
May 1, 2020 8:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden is denying a former staffer’s allegation of sexual assault, saying the accusation is not true. “This never happened,” Biden says in a statement Friday. It’s Biden’s first public comment on an accusation of sexual assault by his former Senate staffer, Tara Reade. He appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss the allegation for the first time on television. A number of former Biden staffers have defended him. The accusation had taken on fresh attention this week after two of Reade’s associates said she previously told them about elements of her allegations.
May 1, 2020 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has donned a face covering while touring a General Motors/Ventec ventilator production facility in Indiana. He had come under fire Tuesday for failing to wear one at the Mayo Clinic. Pence on Thursday toured the General Motors facility in Kokomo, which has already manufactured hundreds of the units. The visit came hours after Pence’s wife, second lady Karen Pence, defended her husband’s decision to not wear a mask at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She told Fox News Channel that he had been unaware of Mayo’s coronavirus mask policy until after he left, although the Mayo Clinic said differently in a since-deleted tweet.
May 1, 2020 4:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) – State officials are investigating a New York City funeral home that resorted to storing dozens of bodies on ice in rented trucks after it was overwhelmed by coronavirus deaths. Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said Thursday that the funeral home in Brooklyn could face civil fines and license suspensions. Authorities responding to complaints about a bad smell found that the home had rented four trucks to hold about 50 corpses. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the actions “unconscionable.” New York City funeral homes have struggled since late March as the number of fatalities linked to the virus has topped 18,000.
May 1, 2020 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s new spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, says she will never lie to reporters. McEnany made her debut at the first White House briefing by a press secretary in more than a year. Asked if she would tell reporters the truth, McEnany said: “I will never lie to you. You have my word on that.” During past administrations, a White House press secretary holding a formal briefing would hardly be news. But it was the first such briefing since March 11, 2019, when Sarah Sanders held the job. Sanders’ successor, Stephanie Grisham, never held a briefing during her entire nine-month tenure. (Photo: CNN)
May 1, 2020 4:08 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The Republican-led Michigan Legislature has refused to extend the state’s coronavirus emergency declaration. It also voted Thursday to authorize a lawsuit challenging Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s authority and actions to combat the pandemic. The unfazed governor issued new orders declaring states of emergency and disaster. A court fight is looming. The emergency is the basis for Whitmer’s stay-at-home order, which she says has saved lives. The Legislature’s steps came as hundreds of conservative activists returned to the Capitol to denounce Whitmer’s stay-home measure. The coronavirus has infected more than 41,000 Michigan residents and contributed to the deaths of nearly 3,800.
May 1, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says state and local governments are seeking up to $1 trillion for coronavirus costs. It’s an eye-popping sum for the next relief package that’s certain to run into opposition from Senate Republicans. Pelosi said Thursday the money for “heroes” would help prevent layoffs of nurses, bus drivers and other front-line workers as governors and mayors stare down red ink in their budgets. The new marker comes after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shifted tone and said he’s “open” to additional funding for the states. But McConnell says any new bill must include liability protections from an “avalanche” of lawsuits against businesses that reopen.
