October 11, 2020 7:52 am
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s confirmed coronavirus toll crossed 7 million on Sunday with a number of new cases dipping in recent weeks, even as health experts warn of mask and distancing fatigue setting in. The Health Ministry registered another 74,383 infections in the past 24 hours. India is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country in coming weeks, surpassing the U.S., where more than 7.7 million infections have been reported. The ministry also reported 918 additional deaths, taking total fatalities to 108,334. The number of people who have died of COVID-19 has remained relatively low in South and Southeast Asia — from India to Vietnam and Taiwan — compared to European countries and the United States, said Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert.
October 11, 2020 7:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House doctor said that President Donald Trump was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus but did not say explicitly whether Trump had tested negative for it. The diagnosis came as the president prepared to resume campaign rallies and other activities. In a memo released Saturday night by the White House, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley said Trump met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for safely discontinuing isolation and that by “currently recognized standards” he was no longer considered a transmission risk. The memo did not declare Trump had tested negative for the virus. But sensitive lab tests — like the PCR test cited in the doctor’s statements — detect virus in swab samples taken from the nose and throat. Dr. William Morice, who oversees laboratories at the Mayo Clinic, said earlier this week that using the PCR tests, the president’s medical team could hypothetically measure and track the amount of virus in samples over time and watch the viral load go down.
October 11, 2020 7:50 am
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Hurricane Delta made landfall Friday evening near the coastal town of Creole with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph). It moved over Lake Charles, a city where Hurricane Laura damaged nearly every home and building in late August. No deaths had been reported by Saturday evening, but a hurricane’s wake can be treacherous. Seven of the 32 deaths attributed to Laura came the day that hurricane struck. Many others were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from generators, and 10,000 utility workers were dispatched Saturday to get power restored to thousands of customers. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter estimated that hundreds of already battered homes took on water. And people were already exhausted and stressed — for two weeks the Wesleys had been sleeping on their back porch to escape the heat because they had no power.
October 11, 2020 7:45 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday threw out a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, dismissing its challenges to the battleground state’s poll-watching law and its efforts to limit how mail-in ballots can be collected and which of them can be counted. The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan — who was appointed by Trump — in Pittsburgh also poured cold water on Trump’s claims that Pennsylvania is fertile ground for election fraud. Trump’s campaign said it would appeal at least one element of the decision, with barely three weeks to go until Election Day in a state hotly contested by Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The lawsuit was opposed by the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP’s Pennsylvania office and other allied groups.
October 11, 2020 7:42 am
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WPXI) — President Donald Trump will make an appearance at a reelection rally in Johnstown on Tuesday, his campaign confirmed Saturday. Campaign officials said Trump will speak at the Make America Great Again rally at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport starting at 7 p.m. The event is general admission, and doors will open at 4 p.m. The campaign did not specify any details about COVID-19 protocols, but it will be an outdoor event. This announcement comes after the president’s planned visit to Beaver County on Monday was canceled.
October 11, 2020 4:42 am
A Pittsburgh woman was charged for making threats to a Washington County Judge. According to court records, 63 year old Linda Bryan was displeased with her divorce ruling from 12 years ago. Bryan made phone calls and sent faxes threatening Judge Brandon Neuman, his staff and family. On Tuesday Bryan sent a fax of an article in the New York Times about the shooting of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas’ son and husband in New Jersey. The Washington County Sheriff was notified. Bryan is said to suffer from mental health issues according to charging documents. Bryan was arraigned before District Justice James Saieva. He placed her in the Washington County jail on $500,000 bond.
October 10, 2020 9:33 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett signed on to a second “right to life” advertisement against the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision. That’s according to supplemental material filed late Friday with the Senate Judiciary Committee. Barrett said her name was included while she was on the faculty at Notre Dame Law School and member of the “University Faculty for Life” group that sponsored the ad in the student newspaper. A copy of the ad was included in her 11-page filing. It called for “the unborn to be protected in law.” The committee said supplemental filings are not unusual. But it will be a topic ahead of her confirmation hearings on Monday, nearly three weeks before the presidential election.
October 10, 2020 9:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s proclamation Friday commemorating Columbus Day includes stark warnings of “radical activists” seeking to tarnish the explorer’s legacy. Native American advocates for years have pressed states to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day over concerns that Christopher Columbus helped launch centuries of genocide against indigenous populations in the Americas. Trump says, “These extremists seek to replace discussion of his vast contributions with talk of failings, his discoveries with atrocities, and his achievements with transgressions.” Trump has been projecting himself as a defender of America’s history and monuments as he seeks reelection.
October 10, 2020 9:26 am
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) – Delta is now a tropical storm moving across the U.S. South after striking Louisiana as a major hurricane. The National Hurricane Center said Delta blew ashore Friday evening as a Category 2 only a few miles from where Hurricane Laura struck land just six weeks earlier. Delta ripped tarps off damaged roofs and scattered massive piles of storm debris in the wind and water. Hundreds of thousands are without power as the storm moves north and east, into Mississippi and the Tennessee Valley. In Lake Charles, Louisiana, Mayor Nic Hunter says his city will be in recovery mode for months and probably years.
October 10, 2020 9:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – With time running out before the election, President Donald Trump is looking to get his campaign back on track. That’s just a week after he was sidelined with the coronavirus, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans. As questions linger about his health, he will hold an event at the White House on Saturday and what he calls a “BIG RALLY” in Sanford, Florida, on Monday. Trump on Friday held what his campaign billed as a “radio rally” as he dialed in to the show of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Public and private surveys show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden, but Trump claims he will win.
