October 13, 2020 3:58 pm
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Tanzanian authorities say 500 volunteers have been trying to put out a fire on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak. A Tanzania National Parks statement said Tuesday that the volunteers have managed to limit the fire’s spread. Spokesman Pascal Shelutete says the cause of the fire has yet to be established. He doesn’t say how the fire that has been burning for more than a day has affected wildlife or vegetation. But he assures tourists of their safety. The mountain is popular with hikers and climbers.
October 13, 2020 8:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Social Security recipients will get a modest 1.3% cost-of living-increase in 2021, but that might be small comfort amid worries about the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences for older people. The increase amounts to $20 a month for the average retired worker, according to government estimates released Tuesday. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, affects the personal finances of about 1 in 5 Americans. The economic fallout from the virus reduced tax collections for Social Security and Medicare, likely worsening their long-term finances. But there’s been no real discussion of either program in the personally charged election contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
October 13, 2020 4:56 am
Fire crews rescued a man from a fire overnight in Mount Pleasant Township. It broke out around midnight along Burgettstown Road. According to reports, fire crews from several departments responded and used a ladder to rescue the man through a second floor window. He was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital by ambulance but there is no word on his identity or his condition. Officials say the fire appears to have broken out in the kitchen and was mainly contained to that area. Only minor damage is reported to the exterior of the home.
October 13, 2020 4:38 am
Peters Township Council spent Monday night going over expenses eligible for reimbursement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Washington County Commissioners made $634,000 available to Peters Township from federal CARES Act funding. Council looked at several items eligible under the CARES Act. The most obvious are expenditures for lost wages because employees were to be paid for any time off if they or any family members had contracted the virus or needed to quarantine. Personal protective equipment was also included. The township will also be submitting requests for upgrades to the library HVAC system. Engineers will design a system to maximize air exchange and install an air purification system to filter viruses from any air circulated in the building. A no touch door system for the recreation center will also be on the list. The fire department will also be requesting no touch defibrillators and CPR vests. The fire department does provide advanced life support in emergency calls, and the CPR vests are designed to provide the compressions that normally would be administered by an EMT. The full list of reimbursements will be completed this week and submitted to the County Commissioners.
October 13, 2020 4:15 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – Joe Biden is campaigning in Ohio as he attempts to expand the battleground map and keep President Donald Trump on the defensive in a state thought to be out of reach after veering right in the presidential race four years ago. The Democratic presidential nominee on Monday stressed an economic message and promoted his own record while casting Trump as having abandoned working-class voters who helped him win Rust Belt states that put him in the White House in 2016. He held Monday events in Toledo and Cincinnati. Vice President Mike Pence held his own rally Monday in Columbus, while Trump was campaigning in Florida.
October 13, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has declined to say whether she views the criminalizing of in vitro fertilization as constitutional, describing it as an abstract question. The appeals court judge nominated by President Donald Trump to join the nation’s highest court signed a 2006 statement opposing “abortion on demand.” That statement was then circulated by a group in her home state of Indiana that has also criticized IVF. While the statement Barrett signed didn’t address IVF, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois has urged her colleagues to reject Barrett’s nomination, citing her daughter’s conception using the common reproductive technology.
October 13, 2020 4:13 am
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) – A late-stage study of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant’s “unexplained illness” is related to the shot. The company said in a statement Monday evening that illnesses, accidents and other so-called adverse events are an expected part of large clinical studies. Its physicians and a safety monitoring panel will try to determine what might have caused the illness. The pause is at least the second such hold to occur among several vaccines that have reached large-scale final tests in the U.S. Final-stage testing of a vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University remains on hold in the U.S., though it has restarted elsewhere.
October 13, 2020 4:12 am
SANFORD, Florida (AP) – Defiant as ever about the coronavirus, President Donald Trump has turned his first campaign rally since contracting COVID-19 into a full-throated defense of his handling of the pandemic that has killed 215,000 Americans. Trump joked Monday that he was healthy enough to plunge into the Florida crowd and give voters “a big fat kiss.” There was no social distancing among the thousands in front of Trump and mask-wearing was spotty as he held forth for an hour, trying to to get his struggling reelection campaign back on track with just weeks left before Election Day.
October 13, 2020 4:11 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s chief elections officer has ordered Republicans to remove unofficial ballot drop boxes set up in at least four counties. Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Monday the boxes are illegal. But Republicans refused to remove them. They said they were just taking advantage of California’s liberal ballot collection law that allows anyone to collect ballots from voters and deliver them to county election offices. Padilla’s office sent Republicans a cease and desist letter ordering them to remove the drop boxes by Thursday. Attorney General Xavier Becerra threatened to prosecute anyone trying to improperly solicit ballots. The boxes have been reported in Los Angeles, Orange, Fresno and Ventura counties.
October 13, 2020 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)- A local postal worker is off the job, accused of throwing away mail intended for Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. The United States Postal Service confirmed there was a mail-in ballot application among the dumped items, along with dozens of political advertisements. The discarded mail was found in a garbage can at Persad Center on Butler Street in Lawrenceville — the same place the postal worker delivers mail to. “We needed to call the postal office to let them know,” said Carlos Torres, the interim executive director of the Persad Center Torres said he took quick action after his facilities manager found the mails in the trash can last week. “This particular morning, he looked into the trash can right outside the main entrance of the building and noticed that there was mail that had not been delivered,” Torres said. “None of the mail belonged to us. We left it alone because we didn’t want to damage any evidence so to speak.” Security cameras captured the postal worker doing the same thing more than once. “Caught on video — the postal worker, who after delivering our mail, went back into their vehicle and took something out of their vehicle and put it in the trash. And this happened over a number of days,” Torres said. “Voter security, making sure everyone gets the proper documents so they can exercise their right to vote is essential. So it is very concerning that this is happening. Not only on our property but also this time in our society,” Torres said. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be presented to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for federal prosecution.
