May 7, 2020 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is glad to be home after being discharged Wednesday from a Baltimore hospital. Ginsburg, 87, spent one night at the Johns Hopkins Hospital to receive nonsurgical treatment for an infection caused by a gallstone. She participated in court arguments by telephone from her hospital room Wednesday. The court says she will return to the hospital for outpatient visits over the next few weeks and will eventually have the gallstone removed. The procedure does not involve surgery.
May 7, 2020 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has thrown out the convictions of two political insiders involved in New Jersey’s “Bridgegate” scandal. The court says in a unanimous decision that the government had overreached in prosecuting Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni for their roles in a political payback scheme that created days of traffic jams near the George Washington Bridge. Their aim was to punish a New Jersey mayor who refused to endorse the reelection of then-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican. The justices say there was evidence of deception, corruption, and abuse of power in the political payback saga. But the ruling says “not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime. (Photo: CNN)
May 7, 2020 4:19 am
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – The Trump administration has shelved a set of detailed documents created by the nation’s top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places during the still-raging pandemic. Those public places include mass transit, day care centers, restaurants and bars. The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was supposed to be published last Friday. A CDC employee tells The Associated Press that agency officials were told the report “would never see the light of day.” The Trump administration has been closely controlling the CDC’s release of information during the coronavirus pandemic.
May 7, 2020 4:18 am
MILTON, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say firefighters in the Florida Panhandle are battling wildfires that have forced some 1,600 people to evacuate from their homes. Smoke from the fires caused officials to close a stretch of Interstate 10 in both directions Thursday. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Thursday that no rain is in the forecast and that residents should stay on alert for additional wildfires. She called the situation extremely dangerous and fast-moving. Some of the 1,100 people who were asked to evacuate in Santa Rosa County were allowed back home Thursday. Others will be asked to stay away at least one more night. In Walton County, a 575-acre fire prompted about 500 people to evacuate.
May 7, 2020 4:17 am
China is touting its assistance to countries struck by the coronavirus, saying it has provided direct government aid to 150 nations, including millions of testing kits. In a statement sent to The Associated Press, the foreign ministry said China has been providing within its means, including, 3.3 million testing kits, 2.6 million gowns, 53 million masks and 729 ventilators, among other supplies. China has in part promoted its assistance and role as a source of personal protective equipment as a way to deflect criticism that it delayed reporting information about the outbreak first detected in the central industrial city of Wuhan late last year.
May 7, 2020 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH– The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case challenging Governor Tom Wolf’s shutdown order. The court denied the case Wednesday. The lawsuit was filed by a group of Pa. businesses, spearheaded by local Republican Danny DeVito, who is running for the state house. The request was jointly filed by DeVito’s campaign along with realtor Kathy Gregory, “B and J” Laundry, Blueberry Hill Golf Course and the Caledonia Land Company. They say they believe businesses should reopen now and that if they don’t, they may never recover. Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a similar challenge to the governor’s order.
May 7, 2020 2:57 am
Washington County Commissioners voted 2-1 on Wednesday to join in a lawsuit against Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. Republican commissioners, Chairperson Diana Irey-Vaughan and Nick Sherman voted in favor of proceeding, saying they believe that Wolf and Levine, through their mandates and restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, have been violating citizens constitutional rights. Democrat Larry Maggi cast the lone no vote, saying that if he thought a lawsuit would get the county’s businesses open and residents back to work and the economy going, then he would vote to sue the state and federal government in a minute. Maggi, however, said that this lawsuit, according to most lawyers, will not be successful and could/would take months or even years to be resolved. Maggi says, to date, they don’t know how much the suit will cost taxpayers, but according to Commissioner Sherman, the suit will not cost taxpayers “one dime.” The suit will be filed in U.S. District Court and will proceed, according to Irey-Vaughan, even if Governor Wolf moves Southwestern Pennsylvania into the yellow phase of reopening quickly. Irey-Vaughan says it’s no longer just about reopening business, it’s about violating the fundamental rights of Pennsylvania residents.
May 7, 2020 2:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf has extended a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions by another two months. He said Thursday that residents should not have to worry about losing their homes during the pandemic. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court first suspended evictions in March, but its order is set to expire Monday. Wolf signed an executive order extending the moratorium through July 10. The move was blasted by a board member of one of the state’s largest landlord groups. Meanwhile, the state has reported 310 more virus deaths, bringing the statewide toll to over 4,300.
May 6, 2020 10:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – One day after saying that the COVID-19 task force would be winding down, President Donald Trump says it would continue on indefinitely, but focus on rebooting the economy. Trump’s reversal in a tweet Wednesday comes as deaths in New York, the epicenter of the virus, are declining, but rising in the rest of the United States. A White House official acknowledged Wednesday morning that signaling that the task force was preparing to shut down sent the wrong message and created a media maelstrom. The official said the membership in the group would change as the nature of the crisis evolves.
May 6, 2020 7:54 am
MOSCOW (AP) – Two Russian doctors died and one remains in the intensive care unit in serious condition after falling out of windows in hospitals under mysterious circumstances last week. The gruesome incidents have made national headlines, with media reports saying all three have come under pressure from superiors over working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks, medical workers all over Russia have decried shortages of protective equipment and questionable infection control procedures that turned dozens of hospitals into virus hotbeds, with hundreds of doctors and nurses contracting the virus. Many Russian doctors say they have been threatened with dismissal or even prosecution for going public with their grievances.
