May 10, 2020 8:03 am
LONDON (AP) — Taking a different tack than most other nations, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to extend the bulk of the country’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions for three weeks or so when he speaks to the nation Sunday evening. Following a week of mixed messages that started with Johnson indicating that there will be changes to the lockdown beginning Monday, the government has sought to douse speculation that they will amount to much. That’s because the U.K., which has recorded the most coronavirus-related deaths in Europe at 31,662, is still seeing a relatively high number of infections. British police warned they are “fighting a losing battle” as Londoners headed out to parks, families descended on the pebble beaches of Brighton in southern England and many drivers set out on what are considered unessential journeys amid the lockdown.
May 10, 2020 7:59 am
ETNA (WPXI)— Multiple homes were damaged by a large fire in Etna Saturday afternoon. Channel 11 crews confirmed the blaze spread to three homes on Wilson Street before crews were able to contain the flames. According to reports, four firefighters were injured while battling the fire. The second-alarm fire started around 3:30 p.m. and quickly spread to the adjacent three-story home. The home that caught fire first was destroyed. The home is reportedly a total loss, but crews on scene said everyone made it out safely. However, 10 people who lived in the two homes that suffered the most damage were displaced because of the fire. Paramedics checked out a few residents at the scene, but no one was taken to the hospital. One firefighter was reportedly treated for a cut from a piece of glass, while another who has a pre-existing condition suffered a “medical event” brought on by the fire. Two other firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion. About 100 firefighters responded from a dozen companies, including several volunteer fire departments. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
May 9, 2020 4:18 am
HOUSTON (AP) – The U.S. government has awarded a $275 million border wall contract for construction that would begin in South Texas in January, at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term if he is re-elected. Caddell Construction Company, based in Montgomery, Alabama, won the contract to build 14 miles of barriers in and around Laredo, Texas, a city of 260,000 people on the Rio Grande, the river that runs between Texas and Mexico.
May 9, 2020 4:17 am
FLINT, Mich. (AP) – Michigan authorities say two men wanted in the fatal shooting of a security guard who demanded a woman wear a mask while shopping at a store are in custody.. Genesee County authorities say 23-year-old Ramonyea Bishop was taken into custody Friday at an apartment in Bay City. His alleged accomplice, 44-year-old Larry Teague, was arrested Thursday near a motel in Houston. The men and Sharmel Teague, the wife of Larry Teague, are charged with first degree murder in the May 1 shooting of Calvin Munerlyn at a Family Dollar store in Flint.
May 9, 2020 4:16 am
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – A federal court has halted the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban on mass gathering from applying to in-person religious services. The temporary restraining order issued Friday enjoins Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration from enforcing the ban at any in-person religious service statewide, provided the places of worship practice social distancing and adhere to hygiene guidelines. Two other federal judges had previously ruled the ban was constitutional, but one of those judges ruled in a separate case Friday that another church could hold in-person services. Beshear had planned to allow places of worship to reopen May 20.
May 9, 2020 4:14 am
SEOUL (AP) — Seoul has shut down more than 2,100 nightclubs, hostess bars, and discos after dozens of infections were linked to clubgoers who went out last weekend as the country relaxed social distancing guidelines. The measures imposed by Mayor Park Won-soon on Saturday came after the national government urged entertainment venues around the nation to close or otherwise enforce anti-virus measures, including distancing, temperature checks, keeping customer lists and requiring employees to wear masks. Park said that the entry bans on the facilities will be maintained until the city concludes the infections risks as meaningfully lowered.
May 9, 2020 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Call it “ventilator diplomacy.” President Donald Trump, who’s taken to calling the U.S. the “king” of ventilators, is making plans to ship 8,000 of the breathing machines to foreign countries by the end of July. That’s a long way from the early days of the virus, when U.S. medical workers were wondering if a shortage of ventilators would force them to decide which patients would get them. Now, the U.S. has a surplus and the president is sharing them with other countries – a goodwill gesture that also helps him offset criticism about his own early response to the pandemic.
May 9, 2020 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The coronavirus is surfacing deep inside the White House. Now, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary has the coronavirus. That makes her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week, which is leading the Trump administration to step up safety protocols. Pence’s spokeswoman Katie Miller tested positive Friday. She had been in recent contact with Pence but not with President Donald Trump. She is married to Stephen Miller, a top adviser to Trump. The White House had no immediate comment on whether Stephen Miller has been tested or is still working in the White House.
May 9, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Rick Bright headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and had received a job performance review of outstanding before he was summarily transferred last month. Now lawyers for the government whistleblower say federal investigators found “reasonable grounds that he had been retaliated against. Bright had opposed widespread use of an unproven drug that President Donald Trump touted as a remedy for the coronavirus. The agency he was transferred from is a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Bright’s lawyers said Friday that investigators with the Office of Special Counsel “made a threshold determination that HHS violated the Whistleblower Protection Act by removing Dr. Bright.”
May 9, 2020 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The next financial rescue plan may not show up for a while. President Donald Trump says he’s in “no rush” to negotiate another financial rescue bill. His comments come even as the government is reporting that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs last month due to economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus. Trump’s top economic adviser says the White House wants to let the last round of recovery funding kick in before committing to hundreds of billions or more in additional spending.
