June 19, 2020 4:08 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Amy Klobuchar is dropping out of vice presidential contention and urging Democrat Joe Biden to select a woman of color instead. The Minnesota senator said Thursday night on MSNBC that she called the presumptive presidential nominee Wednesday night and made the suggestion. She says it would be a step Biden could take to help “heal this nation.” It comes as the senator’s home state has been roiled by the killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer. Klobuchar herself came under fire for her handling of a murder case when she was a prosecutor that sent a black teen to prison for life.
June 19, 2020 4:05 am
LONDON (AP) – The emergencies chief of the World Health Organization confirmed the U.N. agency has received genetic sequences from China regarding Beijing’s latest outbreak and said it appears the virus came from Europe. At a press briefing on Friday, Dr. Michael Ryan noted that “strains and viruses have moved around the world” throughout the pandemic. Ryan noted that analysis of the genetic sequences so far suggests that the virus had been spread person-to-person and not from animals to humans. Meanwhile, WHO’s director-general says the pandemic is “accelerating.” He said more than 150,000 cases were reported to the U.N. health agency on Thursday, the biggest single-day total so far.
June 19, 2020 4:02 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The nation’s largest movie theater chain changed its position on mask-wearing less than a day after the company became a target on social media for saying it would defer to local governments on the issue. AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron said Friday that its theaters will require patrons to wear masks upon reopening, which will begin in July. AMC Theaters wasn’t the first to say it would defer to officials on the mask issue but it hit a nerve for many on Thursday and #boycottAMC quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.
June 19, 2020 3:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A state court will hear the Pennsylvania Health Department’s request to shut down an auto show that began Wednesday because of coronavirus concerns. Commonwealth Court set a Thursday hearing in Harrisburg regarding the Spring Carlisle event that runs through Saturday. The lawsuit calls the show dangerous and says it needs to be stopped. Carlisle Events’ lawyers say the legal filing is invalid and they will fight to keep the show open. The organizer has put in place COVID-19 prevention measures and doesn’t expect its typical crowd this year.
June 19, 2020 3:58 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities have charged a Port Authority bus driver with involuntary manslaughter months after she struck and killed a University of Pittsburgh student. Pittsburgh police on Wednesday also charged 33-year-old Shavonne James with reckless driving, failure to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and operating an improperly equipped vehicle. It could not be determined if James has a lawyer. James was behind the wheel on Jan. 18 when she turned and hit 20-year-old Barbara Como of Chester Springs. The college senior studied anthropology and psychology. School officials said she was on track to graduate this year.
June 19, 2020 3:54 am
The Trinity School District School Board met Thursday and passed a $61 million budget with no tax increase to school district residents. Superintendent Dr. Michael Lucas was pleased that the school board was able to craft a budget with no tax increase in light of the current economic conditions. The board approved an appropriation of $150,000 to purchase 600 Chromebook computers to allow all students access to online learning should that need arise again. Those will be paid for from the capital reserve fund. Lucas says the custodial staff has been working diligently since March disinfecting buildings for the new school year. Any additional costs due to the increase in disinfectants and sanitizers are being reimbursed through the federal CARES Act. School is scheduled to start on August 31.
June 18, 2020 1:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign. For now, those immigrants retain their protection from deportation and their authorization to work in the United States. The outcome seems certain to elevate the issue in Trump’s campaign for reelection, given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of his first presidential run in 2016 and immigration restrictions his administration has imposed since then. It’s Trump’s second rebuke from the court in a week after Monday’s ruling that it’s illegal to fire people because they’re gay or transgender. (Photo: CNN)
June 18, 2020 12:43 pm
A North Carolina man will face trial here in Washington County after allegedly assaulting police officers in the parking lot of a Centerville church earlier this month. According to police, it all started when 22-year-old Dillon Bernheisel’s wife called them during a domestic dispute in the parking lot of the Malden Christian Fellowship Church on the evening of June 3rd. When police arrived, they found Bernheisel sitting on the steps of the church and his wife sitting in a car. She claimed he had stripped off all his clothes but put them back on once officers arrived. Then, police say he became angry and threatened to “shoot and kill all police.” Next, a struggle broke out – resulting in the injury of one California Borough and one Centerville Borough police officer. Once arrested, the Whitesville, North Carolina native was charged with aggravated assault of an officer, disarming law enforcement, terroristic threats, indecent exposure, and many others. At Bernheisel’s preliminary hearing Thursday, in front of Magistrate Josh Kanalis, Bernheisel has been held for court on all charges, set to begin July 30th. He’s currently in the Washington County Jail on $25,000 bail.
June 18, 2020 8:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work. The latest figure from the Labor Department marks the 11th straight weekly decline in applications since they peaked at nearly 7 million in March as the coronavirus shut down much of the economy and caused tens of millions of layoffs. The decline was much smaller than in recent weeks, falling just 58,000.
June 18, 2020 8:38 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jean Kennedy Smith, the youngest sister and last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy, died at 92, her daughter confirmed to the New York Times. Smith died Wednesday at her Manhattan home, her daughter Kym told the Times. Smith served as ambassador to Ireland for five years under President Bill Clinton. She also founded an arts education program that supports artists with physical or mental disabilities. She was the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy, and she tragically outlived several of them by decades.
