December 4, 2020 2:42 am
Hospital beds are filling up and medical staffs are being stretched to the limit as Pennsylvania’s health care system copes with a growing number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients. Nearly half of all hospitals in the south-central region of the state, and a third of those in the southwest, anticipate staffing shortages within a week. That’s according to the state Department of Health. Nurses in the Philadelphia area say they’re overloaded with COVID patients, impacting the quality of care they can provide. And Pennsylvania’s top health official said Thursday she’s worried about modeling that shows the state will run out of intensive care beds this month.
December 3, 2020 4:45 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Powerful winds have pushed flames through Southern California canyons as an out-of-control wildfire burns near homes, forcing residents to flee. The blaze in Orange County’s Silverado Canyon began late Wednesday as a house fire that quickly spread to tinder-dry brush. It exploded in size early Thursday. Firefighters are struggling in steep terrain amid unpredictable Santa Ana winds that have raised fire danger for much of the region. The blaze broke out as Southern California utilities cut the power to tens of thousands of customers to avoid the threat of wildfires during the windy weather.
December 3, 2020 9:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to a still-high 712,000, the latest sign that the U.S. economy and job market remain under stress from the intensified viral outbreak. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said that initial claims for jobless aid dropped from 787,000 the week before. Before the virus paralyzed the economy in March, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits each week had typically amounted to roughly 225,000. The chronically high pace of applications shows that nearly nine months after the pandemic struck, many employers are still slashing jobs.
December 3, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Ivanka Trump has been deposed by attorneys alleging that President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration committee misused donor funds. A new court filing, first reported by CNN Wednesday, notes that Ivanka Trump, the president’s oldest daughter and a senior White House adviser, was interviewed Tuesday by attorneys from the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office. The office has filed a lawsuit alleging waste of the nonprofit’s funds, accusing the committee of making more than $1 million in improper payments to the president’s Washington, D.C., hotel during the week of the inauguration in 2017.
December 3, 2020 4:19 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Attorneys for Wisconsin’s governor are calling President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the state’s election results an “assault on democracy.” Democratic Gov. Tony Evers filed a response to Trump’s lawsuit with the Wisconsin Supreme Court late Tuesday. The state’s highest court is weighing Trump’s request to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in Wisconsin’s two heaviest Democratic counties. Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in those counties on his way to a 20,682-vote win statewide. Trump is not challenging any ballots in the state’s other 70 counties, the majority of which Trump won. His campaign added another lawsuit over his Wisconsin loss late Wednesday in federal court.
December 3, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Three former presidents say they’d be willing to publicly take a coronavirus vaccine, once one becomes available, to encourage all Americans to get inoculated against a disease that has already killed more than 275,000 people nationwide. Barack Obama said during an episode of SiriusXM’s “The Joe Madison Show” airing Thursday, “I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science.” A spokesman for Bill Clinton suggested similar. George W. Bush’s chief of staff told CNN that Bush was ready to do so also. Those comments come as the virus rages nationwide. Vaccines may not be widely available for months. (Photo: CNN)
December 3, 2020 4:17 am
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska authorities say it’s believed six people are missing and four homes have been destroyed after multiple mudslides were reported in the community of Haines on Wednesday. Search and rescue efforts were suspended Wednesday evening as rains continued to batter the area, with authorities citing unstable ground. Those unaccounted for were in the vicinity of where the largest slide came down Wednesday afternoon. Alaska State Troopers say about 9 feet of mud and trees cover the area, which saw evacuations. Haines Borough Mayor Douglas Olerud tells The Associated Press there were several smaller slides in the community of about 2,500 people in southeast Alaska, about 100 miles north of Juneau.
December 3, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has delivered a 46-minute diatribe against the election results that produced a win for Democrat Joe Biden, unspooling one misstatement after another to back his baseless claim that he really won. Trump’s address was released only on social media Wednesday and delivered in front of no audience. He called it perhaps “the most important speech” of his presidency. But it was largely a recycling of the same litany of misinformation and unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud that he has been making for the past month. Trump’s remarks raised fresh questions about how far the president may be willing to go in his campaign to overturn Biden’s win.
December 3, 2020 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Optimism about delivering long-sought COVID-19 relief is building on Capitol Hill after additional rank-and-file lawmakers voiced support for a bipartisan, middle-of-the-road plan taking shape in the Senate. Also, top congressional leaders connected on the topic for the first time in months. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – frequent rivals but proven dealmakers – spoke on the phone Thursday. Their conversation came the day after Pelosi signaled a willingness to make major concessions in search of a COVID rescue package in the $1 trillion range. Some conservatives, including Republicans from COVID hotspots like North Dakota and Iowa, said they were comfortable with an aid package carrying the almost $1 trillion price tag.
December 3, 2020 4:11 am
Washington County Commissioner voted Wednesday to abandon several bridges throughout the county. The Hawkins Bridge in Deemston, the Elliot Bridge in Smith Township will be taken over by individual property owners. The Nathan and Noble Bridges in Blaine Township will be taken over by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The county will be responsible for the removal and disposal of the main girders and superstructures of those bridges before the Game Commission assumes ownership. Those costs will be covered by Act 44 funds. Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey-Vaughn calls the moves merely a bookkeeping measure. The bridges have limited use to the county and the property owners were willing to assume all responsibilities.
