April 1, 2020 4:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is resisting calls to issue a national stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. This is despite his administration’s projections that tens of thousands of Americans are likely to be killed by the disease. One by one, though, states are increasingly pushing shutdown orders of their own. On Wednesday alone, three more states – Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania – added or expanded their stay-at-home orders. The resistance to a more robust federal response comes even as Vice President Mike Pence says White House models for the coronavirus toll show the country on a trajectory akin to hard-hit Italy.
April 1, 2020 3:55 am
State Representative Tim O’Neal (R-48) invited Chief Medical Officer of Canonsburg Hospital Thomas Corkery D.O. to a telephone town hall to address constituent’s concerns with regard to the Covid-19 virus. Corkery was asked a number of questions and his advice was clear. Practice everything that the Pennsylvania Department of Health recommends, stay home, practice social distancing, wash hands constantly with soap and water and do not touch your face. Corkery explained that the virus is passed from person to person by droplets from one person’s sneeze or cough and picked up by a second person. That second person is infected when the virus is internalized by touching their face. Corkery explained that knowing where people live who have the virus is a matter of patient privacy, and because the virus is everywhere, it serves no purpose to disclose a patient’s location. Any testing being done in Washington County is being authorized with a prescription. Anyone who feels they need a test will need to obtain a prescription from a doctor, most likely through telemedicine. People not exhibiting severe symptoms are not tested. The reason for that is that sometimes the delay between tests and results may be a week or more. One could test negative and the day before the test results return, that person could contract the disease causing a false negative. O’Neal also addressed concerns about the inability to apply for Unemployment Compensation indicating that the Unemployment Office is overwhelmed by a record number of requests.
April 1, 2020 3:53 am
(AP) – Allegheny Technologies Inc. has announced plans to shut down a western Pennsylvania plant at the end of June, citing steel tariffs imposed on imports by the Trump administration. The company said Tuesday that about 70 employees, most represented by the United Steelworkers union, would lose their jobs at the Midland plant in Beaver County. Officials said Allegheny Technologies has been seeking a tariff exclusion since March 2018, but one request was rejected and a second received no response. The Midland plant imports steel slabs from Indonesia and turns them into stainless steel sheets used in a variety of products.
April 1, 2020 3:52 am
(WPXI) – The start of Kennywood’s 2020 season will be delayed because of the coronavirus, the park announced on Wednesday. The park said they will not be able to start the season on May 2 as originally planned because of the shutdown of preseason preparations. In the update the park said, ” Our highest priority remains the safety of all of our Team Members and Guests, and we’re closely following the guidelines set forth by federal, state and local government officials and health experts.” A new date for the start of the season has not been announced yet.
April 1, 2020 2:27 am
A Washington County woman is facing several charges after an incident Sunday afternoon where she allegedly coughed on a Pennsylvania State Police trooper who had responded to the scene of a reported domestic dispute. Troopers say 37-year-old Jessica Harvey of Houston was found walking on Pike Street and she was “disheveled and bleeding,” and also appeared to be intoxicated. Police say they learned there were multiple warrants out for Harvey’s arrest and as they were putting her into the back of the patrol car, she coughed in the trooper’s face and said: “I have the coronavirus and I hope that you have it now,” according to the police report. She was taken to the Washington County Jail and is charged with terroristic threats, harassment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
March 31, 2020 3:14 pm
UNDATED (AP) – Marriott says guests’ names, loyalty account information and other personal details may have been accessed in the second major data breach to hit the company in less than two years. The world’s largest hotel company says approximately 5.2 million guests may have been affected. The information taken may have included names, addresses, birthdays, room preferences and loyalty information for linked companies like airlines. Marriott says it’s still investigating, but it doesn’t believe credit card information, passport numbers or driver’s license information was accessed. The company says it is notifying impacted guests. Marriott also discovered a massive data breach in late 2018.
March 31, 2020 10:50 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says deaths from the coronavirus continue to climb steeply in New York, topping 1,500 by Tuesday. The number of deaths was up by more than 300 from Monday. New York City reported its first coronavirus death of a person under 18 years old. Health officials report that the city’s 914 deaths from the pandemic include one person who is under the age of 18. Details including the person’s exact age have not been disclosed. More than 1,200 have died of COVID-19 across New York state, and 9,500 people are hospitalized with the disease statewide.
March 31, 2020 7:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is expected to relax ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come. The rule expected to be announced Tuesday would gut one of the nation’s single-biggest efforts against climate change. A leaked version of the final rule shows the administration watering down an Obama mileage standard that would have encouraged automakers globally to ramp up production of electric vehicles and more fuel-efficient gasoline vehicles. The administration says the looser mileage standards will allow consumers to keep buying the less fuel-efficient SUVs that U.S. drivers have favored for years. Opponents say it will kill several hundred more Americans a year through dirtier air.
March 31, 2020 3:59 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has retracted an order to close gun stores to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Villanueva announced Monday that he’ll heed a federal advisory that lists gun dealers as “essential critical infrastructure workers.” Last week, the sheriff ordered gun stores closed, saying panic-buying was risky to public safety. On Friday, the National Rifle Association and other groups sued the sheriff, saying his order violated Second Amendment rights. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that each of the state’s 58 counties can decide for themselves whether to list firearms dealers as nonessential businesses.
March 31, 2020 3:58 am
MIAMI (AP) – The U.S. Coast Guard says it’s working with Holland America on a detailed docking plan that would require two ships carrying passengers and crew from an ill-fated cruise to handle all medical issues without impacting South Florida’s already-stressed hospitals. Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian told the Broward County Commission that if a unified command of state, local and federal officials can’t unanimously agree on what to do with the people on the Zaandam and Rotterdam ships now headed to Florida, then they’ll punt the decision to Washington. Passengers are pleading with Florida officials to let them disembark despite a coronavirus outbreak on board. (Photo: CNN)
